St Andrew

A few years ago I had the opportunity to preach at a St Andrew's day service which fell on Advent Sunday. As I thought about St Andrew and Advent it did seem to me that Andrew can be a seen as an 'advent character'. From the little we know of Andrew from the Gospels the major characteristic which comes across was that he often cleared a path for others to meet with Jesus. It was Andrew who encouraged his brother Peter to come and meet Jesus. It was Andrew was brought the boy with the 5 loaves and fish to Jesus. It was Andrew who enabled some Greek speaking enquirers to get near to Jesus.
Andrew was not among the inner circle of the disciples like his brother. We learn precious little about him from the Gospels. A disciple who perhaps was very much in the background and yet whose quiet contribution was on occasions very telling. Praise God for Andrew and also for my native land on this St Andrew's day.

Advent

This has been a busy week following on from my 2 weeks of holiday which saw Annette and I visiting family in Scotland and our grandchildren in the West Midlands. One of the highlights was that on the way north we stopped for lunch and I had delicious Scotch Pie. Why are there no butchers in Harrogate who could stock genuine Scotch pies and sliced sausages??

I am now looking forward to a busy weekend. The Showstoppers Holiday Club reunion party is on Saturday afternoon with over 40 children booked in. Saturday evening will be the time for getting into my kilt to attend the Harrogate St Andrew's Society annual dinner to mark St Andrew's day.
Sunday morning is our bi monthly Parade service and is, of course, Advent Sunday.

The season of Advent was not one which I remember featuring at all in my growing up in a Lanarkshire Baptist Church. But it is a time I look forward to now. On Sunday morning we will use this hymn from the Iona Community to set us on our way -

Advent is a time of waiting
for the life that is to be.
When the Christ, by prophets promised,
sits enthroned on Mary’s knee,
human in the way that we are;
come to earth for you and me.

Choirs of angels are rehearsing,
‘Glory to our God on high.’
Shepherds in the field are watching
where their bleating charges lie.
Distant magi, waiting, restless,
scan the dark mysterious sky.

Hope is all our theme for Advent,
hope for all the human race.
All our hope on God is founded,
God who shows a human face
God who made the Earth and planets
now appears in time and space.

Josie Smith.

the church in its most local setting

Yesterday's daily 'Verse & Voice' email from the Sojourners contained the following thought-provoking quote:-

The Christian faith for most people is not communicated by doctrinal pronouncements ... but by what goes on in the church in its most local setting. It is here, in the church down the street, that people are caught up in the Gospel promise -- or are turned away. (James C. Fenhagen, from his book Mutual Ministry)

I am on holiday at the moment and will be heading to Scotland early next week and then back down the M6 to visit the family.

Remembrance Sunday

Below is one of the images I intend to use on Sunday. In 1999 Annette and I had a wonderful holiday in Italy which included a visit to the Monastery founded at Monte Cassino by Benedict in the 6th Century. From there the Benedictine order began and spread across the world. Monte Cassino was also the site of ferocious battle during the second world war. Many soldiers lost their lives and the monastery was badly damaged. The monastery was rebuilt and now stands above a cemetery where over 4000 British and Commonwealth service personnel are buried or commemorated. The image captures the monastery overlooking the cemetery. It brings the thought of Jesus overlooking Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday, weeping and saying "If you, even you,had only recognised on this day the things that make for peace".
The monastery, a place of study, worship and prayer, overlooking a stark reminder of the consequences of conflict. If only we could recognise the things that make for peace.

I followed the Lectionary Readings for today and used Mark 12:28-34 as the passage on which the sermon was based. The Old Testament Reading was from Deuteronomy 6:1-9 which contains the words of the Shema - ‘Here O Israel…….’. With the children I used a powerpoint with some photographs of Jewish men wearing the Teffilin (a pair of black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Bible. The hand-tefillin, or shel yad, is worn by Jews wrapped around the arm, hand and fingers, while the head-tefillin, or shel rosh, is placed above the forehead. The Torah dictates that they should be worn to serve as a "sign" and "remembrance" that God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt.) . I also showed them a mezuzah which is fixed to the doorframe of Jewish homes to fulfill the instruction to inscribe the words of the Shema "on the doorposts of your house". I had been given one some years ago as a gift from someone who had visited the Holy Land. The teffilin and mezuzah are used in response to the words of the Shema which gives the instruction about the importance of remembering and obeying the Torah.
“The commandments I give you today must be in your hearts. 7 Make sure your children learn them. Talk about them when you are at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Speak about them when you go to bed. And speak about them when you get up. 8 Write them down and tie them on your hands as a reminder. Also tie them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses. Also write them on your gates.’ ( Deuteronomy 6)

I have always though the ‘mezuzah’ to be a powerful symbol to remind the people that in all their coming and going the Law of the Lord should be listened to and lived out.

The lead into this with the children was to tell them about one of my ‘pet hates’- seeing people who have written messages on their hands to help them remember something important.

When asked, at least half the congregation confessed to to sometimes writing messages on their hands!