Today is All Saints Day and often there is a tendency to focus only on that great cloud of witnesses who have now entered into God’s everlasting Kingdom. Not just the likes of John and the other Apostles we read of in Scripture, but also those who we know have done so much in the name of God down through the generations. And we tend to think of them as having entered God’s Kingdom whilst we might hope to join them one day.

However, All Saints Day is a celebration of all Saints, known and unknown, and stems from the belief that there is a powerful Spiritual bond between the Church in heaven and the Church here on earth. For some that then poses a further question about just whose lives we should be celebrating and giving thanks for on All Saints Day.

In the book of Revelation, at the beginning of chapter 3, we read, ‘See what great love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God…’  Does this mean that we can change our way of thinking, such that we can begin to widen our understanding of who we consider to be Saints?

If John is correct and we can all be called Children of God here and now, doesn’t that mean that all who faithfully live out the Gospel message as best they can, who seek to share the love of Christ in all they are and do, can’t they be thought of as being Saints? Are we able to alter our understanding of the Kingdom of God to accept that we are living in that Kingdom now?

These are all very profound and meaningful questions and perhaps ones that we don’t consider too often, nor indeed wish to consider too often, preferring instead to simply focus on that great cloud of witnesses who have now entered into God’s everlasting Kingdom.

So on this All Saints Day let’s indeed remember those who have gone before us in the way of their faith. But let’s also remember these words from John in the book of Revelation and let’s rejoice and give thanks for this love that God lavishes upon us and let’s reflect that we are not made saints by what we may have done or left undone, but rather through what God has done for us all in His Son………..Let’s pray…

 

Lord of all being, of all life, as we come before You in worship here today, we acknowledge that You are indeed the centre and soul of life itself and that by Your Spirit, You come to us each and every day, pouring Your love upon us, calling on us to walk in Your light.

Your love for us brings a smile to our faces and joy into our hearts, as we share in the joy of all that You have created and in Your grace and majesty You created us in Your image, capable of great and wondrous things, yet also so weak and fragile.

And as we come before You in worship this day Lord, we ask that You would encircle us with the tenderness of Your strength and embrace us with the gentleness of Your mercy, that within Your love we might be touched by Your Spirit, as we lift our hearts and souls to the glory of Your name.

Loving God we praise You because you have shown to us in Your Son that Your love reaches out to all people. Yet we confess that sometimes we fail to do likewise and with sadness and sorrow we admit how well we know that our lives have not always been pleasing to You and yet we have failed to change our ways.

Lord forgive us we pray and into the midst of our lives we ask that You will once again come and guide our steps. Help us to turn our hearts and minds away from ourselves and our own failings and to focus on Your forgiving and accepting love. So that we might walk together in humility and faithful obedience, desiring above all else to become the caring, sharing people that You have called us to be in Your Church here today, proclaiming Your Gospel message at all times and in all circumstances.

So come and be with us now we pray and lead us in worship here this morning. And unite our hearts and voices together now as one, as we come together in the words of Your Son……

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, forever…Amen

 

Read Matthew 5:1-12

I wonder how many of us have read these verses from Matthew’s Gospel, the Beatitudes, and all of a sudden felt somewhat inadequate in terms of our faith. Because if we are honest with ourselves, we know the occasions when we have had thoughts and feelings that we should never have had and when we have behaved in ways we should never have behaved.

We remember those times when we gave thanks for the actions of others, at the same time asking questions of their motives. We recall those occasions when we remained silent because standing up for what we believed or using our voice to uplift others would have meant rejection and persecution by some. And we remember those words of mercy and forgiveness we offered even when our hearts remained cold and callous.

And today, on All Saints Day, we perhaps feel this even more, as we think of those whom we ourselves might have thought of as Saints. We remember their courage and conviction, their boldness and humility, their unwavering faith and we dare not even consider ourselves to be as worthy servants of God as they were.

However, any blessing we receive through fulfilling any of the actions in the Beatitudes is not because we were able to do the thing we did. The blessing comes from the aid and consolation of the Holy Spirit being with us, guiding us, and bridging the gap that is simply part of being created.

So what then are we to make of these blessings that Jesus speaks of here and how do we apply this to our lives of faith each day?

Many people look at the beatitudes as essentially being a set of instructions as to how we as Christians should live our lives each day. But they’re not. Nor are they some kind of addendum to the original commandments or a collection of self-righteous and pious hopes of what is yet to come – vague promises or prophecies even of some future time of blessing.

They are blessings which exist here and now and they express the joy and delight that is ours as Christians to follow Jesus – the sheer joy that comes from knowing Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Yes, there is no doubt the blessings they speak of will find ultimate fulfilment and consummation in the everlasting presence of God.

But they are still a reality here and now – a list of blessings that we will receive if we strive to live as Disciples of Jesus Christ. And there is a hugely important difference here…

In sending us His Son, God acknowledged that we could not live to His high standards; that we were unable to live the kind of sinless life that He wished. So there would be no point therefore in Jesus simply then telling us we have to do this…and we have to do that…oh, and we can’t do this…

Because as has been the case since the dawn of creation, as human beings we would all fail – we are incapable of living a perfect life. And still today, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we remain incapable of living our lives without making any mistakes. But, we don’t have to worry about that anymore because Christ has done that for us.

However, what we should do is try to live as Jesus would wish us to. So these beatitudes are not so much about our action but more our attitude. Here Jesus is not simply commanding us how to live, He is asking us to think about how we live. He doesn’t only want us to live by sheer obedience to His teachings – He wants our hearts to belong to God.

Through Jesus Christ, God has shown His love for us. He now wants us to accept this love into our hearts and to share this love with others through the way we act day by day. So what does this mean for us today?

The vision reflected in Matthew’s Beatitudes is essentially tied up with our expected character as believers of Jesus Christ and in a sense offer a foundation for the kind of Holy living that is celebrated on All Saints’ Day. And this way of living consists of our absolute trust and faith in God, and our active involvement in God’s compassionate and transforming mission in the world today.

Saints, therefore, are those whose lives bear witness to suffering and struggle, and to strive to live as God would wish us all to, demonstrating life on the margins and fulfilling the prophetic role that this world so badly demands. They belong to the past, present and future of God’s Kingdom.

And what unites them all, and of course us, and what holds us all together as one is that we are all God’s children. All unique and different, yes, all with our own skills and gifts, yes – but all children of the one true living God, sanctified through our faith in Jesus Christ as our Saviour. It was not their or our achievements or qualities on their own that makes them Saints, but God’s grace working in them.

So ultimately today we celebrate what God has done, not what we or those who have gone before us in faith, have done, but God. 

God, through His Holy Spirit is the One who is able to empower, equip and enable us all. So today, the persecuted ones are still seeking to make peace and those mourning are still showing mercy. They do not give up – and nor should we. Through His Son and by His Spirit, God has transformed us all. And in our weakness we are safe, because, in the words of the Beatitude,  we know that one day, we will see God.

In His Son, God reverses the values of the world and so ‘the saints’ are not heroes of holiness, but the poor who simply hold on to God. God achieves all these through the Lordship of Christ. In Him, God has won the world. As for us, today…

Let’s continue to be a comfort to those in need; let’s be merciful, let’s be humble, let’s be peacemakers; lets’ be pure in heart. Not because God demands it, nor for the benefits that we receive in behaving in this way… but because God loves us and through our actions wants is to share that love with others… Amen.

Loving and merciful God, Father of us all, have mercy upon us and all your children everywhere. Forgive us the mess that we have made of Your world and hear us now as we come before You thinking of those who need You most today. We pray for peace in this our world and ask that You might move among us by Your Spirit and break down any barriers of suspicion, hatred and fear. Heal the human family of all its divisions and unite it in the bonds of justice and peace. And as we pray for our own nation we ask that You would enrich our common life and strengthen all forces of truth and goodness in our land. 

We pray for all who suffer this day, especially through sickness or bereavement. Encompass them with Your love, surround them with Your strength and console them with Your comfort. Show them that there always is hope and equip them with the courage they need to accept this hope. We think especially of those in our own families and communities, those whom we love and care for. Support and uphold them in their times of difficulty and anxiety, that they might draw close to You in faith and so find the love and compassion that they need.

And on this All Saints Day, we remember with thanksgiving those who have gone before us in the way of our Saviour. Keep us united with all your saints on earth and in heaven. Grant that as we journey through the years we too may know joys that are without end till at last we too come to Your everlasting and eternal Kingdom…Amen

 

 

 

 

‘Focus my eyes on You, O Lord…’

Every single day of our lives we face trials and tribulations, temptation and obstacles that stand in the way of our faith. They come in many forms and often in the most unexpected of ways and at the least expected time. And when they do it’s all too easy to ‘lose sight’ of our faith, if only for a short while. So let’s take time at the start of each day to spend time in prayer with our Lord, echoing the words of this much loved hymn.

 

‘I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto me and rest…”’

What a wonderful invitation to each and every one of us, to come to the Lord and find rest from the toils of everyday life. So let’s do that today – take time out of your busy lives to come before the Lord, to share with Him all that is on your mind and all that is in your heart. Seek that resting place that this hymn speaks of and find in Him that comfort and peace that only He can offer.

‘Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices…’

Many think of this as a children’s hymn and it is one that is often sung when children are in church. But when we look at the words of the hymn we see that it is one which rejoices in the blessings that God pours upon each day and for which we should thank God with all we have. So let’s take time today to come before God, recounting all His goodness to us and giving thanks to Him for all His blessings and let’s do so with our whole beings, as we share these with others each day.

 

Read Jonah 1:17 – 2:10

What is significant about the time Jonah remained in the fish?

• Three days and three nights!
• Is there some reference to Christ’s death and resurrection?
• Note that Jesus Himself relates to Jonah. ( Matthew 13:39-40)

Jonah prayed to the Lord, we are told, but what kind of prayer was it?

• It was a prayer of thanksgiving, not a prayer asking for deliverance.
• Jonah was thankful he had not drowned.
• He acknowledged God’s great mercy.

What do we learn about Jonah in these verses?

• Despite his initial actions in running away from God, Jonah shows great faith here by thanking God for his rescue whilst it was still on going and he was still in the belly of the fish.
• Yet even now, in verse 8 we see that still Jonah has not yet grasped God’s plan for the world.
• His faith may be real but he is still judgemental and self-centred.
• Nevertheless, Jonah believes that God can and will save him – indeed that in this situation it is only God who can save him.

What do we learn about God in these verses?

• God is in control of all things.
• He is forgiving and gracious.
• What we have here in these verses is an illustration of God’s power – God’s mercy – God’s power.

What from these verses can we apply to our lives?

Are we at times self-centred in our faith – thinking only of our own circumstances?

If we found ourselves (metaphorically) in the belly of a huge fish, would we trust God in the same faith?

Is there anything we need to change in our relationship with our Lord?

 

‘I The Lord Of Sea And Sky…’

This well known hymn is largely based on Isaiah’s vision and commission as a prophet, which we can read in Isaiah chapter 6. However, as believers in Jesus Christ today it should also resonate with us. We may not be called in the same way as Isaiah and our culture and circumstances today may be completely different than in his day, nevertheless, as Disciples of Jesus Christ here and now we should be echoing the words of Isaiah, the words of this hymn, ‘Here I am Lord…I will go Lord…if You lead me…’ So let’s come before the Lord in prayer today, offering ourselves to Him and asking Him to lead us along the path He would have us take.

‘Be Thou my vision…’

Every day of our lives, in some way or another, we depend on some guidance, some direction or some help in order to do the things we need to do and without this we might not be able to accomplish what we set out to do. Ultimately, however, it is the Lord we should be looking to at all times, focussing on Him and His ways, to enable us to navigate our way through all that life throws at us. So look to Him now, praying for His guidance in your life, and walk the path that He sets before you.

 

 

 

 

In my NIV Bible 1Corinthians chapter 13 is entitled, Love is indispensable…and at the beginning of the chapter Paul speaks about various gifts of the Holy Spirit – speaking in tongues, prophecy and faith – but states that if he has all of these but does not have love then he is nothing.

Indeed Paul goes on to say this more than once – without love he is and has nothing – and as we read through the whole chapter we are left with this wonderful idea of what true love is all about. Love is patient, love is kind…Love always trusts, always hopes…Love never fails. Indeed of faith, hope and love – love is the greatest of the three.

However, when we look at the world around us today, where we see so many situations where kindness is somewhat scarce, where trust is hard to find, where hopes forever seem to be dashed and where patience is in short supply, the idea that love never fails might be a difficult concept for many to understand and accept.

Yet Paul is unmoving in his exhortations and in the same way that we thought of Paul and the fruit of the Holy Spirit last week, this week we look to the gifts of the Holy Spirit and for Paul it is love that binds all things together. And given his own personal encounters and experience with Jesus, it’s perhaps understandable why Paul would believe this.

The question is do we believe this – do we believe that love is indeed what binds all things together, do we believe that love is indeed indispensable and what did our Lord have to say on the question of love?

Let’s pray…

Loving God we thank You for Your continued presence with us each and every day, and as we come to You now, ask that Your Spirit would be upon us, drawing us closer to You. Help us today, as we hear Your Word and meditate on what it says to us, to allow that same Spirit to guide us through the day ahead. We praise You for all the opportunities and challenges that You set before us, and thank You that by Your Spirit, You supply us with the gifts and skills we need to rise up and meet these, to the glory and honour of Your name..

Yet still we confess dear God there are times when we fail to listen to You, times when we ignore Your Spirit altogether and seek to do things in our own way, often realising, only when it is too late, of the foolishness of our behaviour and of how we have failed to act as You would have us. Gracious God, for these and all our faults and failings, forgive us, we pray, and enable us once again to know Your presence in our lives. For despite our sinfulness, deep down we know that You are always there to call upon, always there to offer help, guidance and support, always there to offer mercy and forgiveness and to welcome us back into Your tender loving care.

So help us to look to You at all times, we pray, and to allow Your Spirit to lead us through each day, that in all we say and do, we might not only continue along the journey that You would have us take, but through our witness and using the gifts and faith You have given us, invite others to join with us on that journey. And all this we ask in Jesus name…Amen.

 

Read Matthew 22:34-46

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…Love your neighbour as yourself…’ In these two short sentences Jesus essentially summed up the entirety of the Law in a nutshell. But I wonder if we have ever taken any serious amount of time consider which of these two commands we find easiest to obey. To love God with all we have – or – to love our neighbour as ourselves?

Is it, for example, easier to love the neighbour we can see as opposed to the God we can’t see? Or is it easier to love God than the neighbour who we never seem to be able to avoid? Of course that choice is offered somewhat tongue in cheek.

Yet the reality is that for some loving God is easier than loving their neighbour – and vice versa. However, although both of these commands are quite distinct in their own way, they are both equally compulsory – if we would be the Disciples of Jesus that we wish to be.

The fact that these commandments appear in all three Synoptic Gospels shows how important they that. And whilst John doesn’t quote this great commandment, he does something just as significant, the pivotal moment coming just after Jesus washes his disciples feet in john 13…

I give you a new commandment… love each other…just as I have loved you…so you also must love each other…

So there can be no question that for Jesus the doorway to life is love. And for us today, the essential guiding principle as we face all of life’s big questions – is love.

And if we are serious about following Jesus, then we have no choice but to learn to open our hearts and make love the primary focus of our lives— as tough and messy as that may be. If we call ourselves Christians then the truth we will have to live with is this love can be the only law we live by.

But as we know, that’s not always easy…

In our opening reflection we thought of what Paul had to say about love. But I wonder if we have ever seriously stopped to consider that, love begets love. And whilst some might be suspicious of such a claim, it is true – the more love you give, the more love you have to give.

So essentially, we love by loving. And the way of loving God and neighbour is by loving God in neighbour and loving neighbour in the love of God…and loving the most difficult neighbour at that…

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, for if you love those who love you, what reward have you. And in 1 John chapter 4 we are told, if anyone says I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen – and this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also…

John of the Cross was a major figure in the counter-reformation in the 16^th century, and was canonised by the pope in 1726. He was also something of a poet and his work often focussed on the growth of the soul. And in one of his poems he says…that in the end we shall be judged by love alone…

And if that is the case, then Paul is correct – Love is indispensable. So where does that leave us?

The kind of love that we are talking about here is not some kind of superficial slushy kind of a love. Nor is it even merely a genuine and sincere love that truly comes from the heart – although that is a good start. The love we are talking about here is a love that can only be found in God Himself. A self-giving, sacrificial kind of love – offered again and again. A love that we see in Jesus Christ.

A love which is more than emotional and which is not merely passive; A love that means being involved in a real and intimate way with those to whom we offer this love. A love that means using our gifts, our services, our talents, to help in any way those to whom we are offering this love; And a love that is not merely a matter of the heart – but also a matter of the mind, body, strength and soul.

However, in our society today, are we capable of such love? Many might suggest we are not, giving many reasons for that. But I wonder if we’ve ever stopped to consider this.

If we look again at what Jesus says – Love God and love your neighbour as yourself. Here it would appear that the way we love ourselves is to be the model for how we love others.

If you remember we kind of touched on this last week when we thought of behaving towards others as we would have them behave towards us. And we concluded that as we would only want people to behave in a good way towards us then we should do likewise to others.

But is it as simple in this situation?

For example, Carl Yung was an eminent psychoanalyst whose work was very influential in philosophy and religion. And he once said, ‘…that I feed the hungry, that I forgive an insult, that I love my enemy in the name of Christ – all these are undoubtedly great virtues. What I do to the least of my brothers, I do unto Christ.  But what if I should discover that the least amongst them all, the poorest of all the beggars . . . [is] within me, and that I myself am the ‘who’ that must be loved – what then?’

Essentially, what if, for whatever reason, we feel so unloved that we are unable to love ourselves? Maybe certain circumstances in our life have driven us to the point of feeling this way, where we have no self-esteem or self-respect and that we are completely on our own and no-one cares for us in any way.

How are we to love others if we are unable to love ourselves? Is that even possible? And where do we go from here?

The Bible tells us that God created us in His own image, His own imprint is within all of us, and He created us so that we might be at one with Him and with all His creation. And although as human beings we ruined that relationship with God, still His love for us is such that He gave His One and only Son to reconcile Himself to us. Remember what John 3:16 says…

The key then is to hold on to this – that God loves us in this way. Why? Because our love of self, cannot contradict our love for and of God, because God’s love is here within us all – it is part of God’s creation within all of us.

So now we can go back to the first command that Jesus gave here – to love God with all our heart, soul and mind – and we do so now, knowing that we can do this because of God’s love for us. And if we can begin to love God in this way, then as part of God’s creation made in His image, we can also begin to love ourselves in the way that God loves us. Then we can move on to Jesus second command to begin to love others in the way we should.

The Gospel we hold on to and the faith we claim to have and seek to live out each day is surely based on these two simple commands that Jesus gives us today. And of course it all begins with God, whom we are called to love with all of our being.  Because if we do indeed love God in this way, then our love of others and ourselves should follow automatically

So let’s seek to do as Jesus commands here – to love God with all of our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbour as ourselves. If we can all do this and by our example encourage others to do likewise – and if every Christian up and down the land did the same – then in the love of God, who knows what might be possible…Amen.

 

We thank you, Lord for this wonderful world in which we live, full of variety, so that each day is full of new opportunities and challenges; full of excitement, where each day is new and different from the previous; and full of love and compassion, so that each day we are comforted in sorrow and sadness, and uplifted in joy and peace. We thank You for the life we now have in Your Son, and thank You that by your Holy Spirit your Son is still at work in us and in our church today; revealing your truth, renewing our lives and guiding us to your eternal kingdom. 

Yet we know that this world is far from perfect and so we thank you for your Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ, come as one of us to show us how to live our lives in this world today. Help us as your church here on earth to be your disciples in this time and place, to bring warmth where this world is cold, light where it is dark, joy where it is sad and, above all, love in all things.

We remember also those for whom life seems to be a time of constant toil and exertion, and never a time of joy and happiness, and those for whom circumstances cut deeply and wound painfully, and we ask Lord for your intervention in their lives. And we think of those whose lives are now filled with fear and trepidation, those who are caught up in the crossfire of conflict and who no longer feel safe in their own homes, and those who feel so unloved, isolated and on their own. 

Gracious and loving God, these are but a few examples of how your people need your help in this world today and we see them in every nation on this planet. Lord be with all your people we pray and lay your hand upon them. Grant them your peace and comfort, grant them your healing and compassion and minister to each as only you can. That even in their most dark and difficult days they may know your love in all its fullness and see a way forward in You, and so find renewed hope and faith in their lives.

Be especially with those known to us, our families, friends and neighbours, indeed all within our wider communities. You know all their needs, all their concerns, all their fears, so we ask that You would be with them now as only You can. And keep us all safe in your tender care over this coming week. Help us as best we can, in all we do, to live as You would have us, sharing your love with all people at all times. And all this we ask in Jesus name…Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Be still for the presence of the Lord…’

Life is busy and demanding, and despite our best intentions and our best efforts, still it seems that we never have sufficient time on our hands to do all those things we might wish to. The sad reality, however, is that sometimes when this does happen, God gets pushed to the side. We’ll come back to God and our devotions when we have more time – but often we don’t. So let’s remember the opening words of this reflective hymn and take time now, to be still in the presence of the Lord, and share with Him all that is in our hearts.