Something you said

It was definitely odd. At one of the celebration tea tables at Arbury 60th. I took the last place where a couple of my friends were already seated. I introduced myself to the other five and the man sitting on my right replied with his name  Asking him about his story he happily revealed that he had worked as a cleaner at a large restaurant but was now retired with a mixed health story.  In pastoral mode I listened and occasionally chipped in when suddenly, with a jolt, he turned his head: ' You said your name is Michael. Is it Michael Quicke?'  'Why yes,' I admitted. I had to!

'I thought so', he replied. 'It was something you said that reminded me of something you used to say. I realized it must be you!'  'What was the something I said? I asked.  Genuinely interested. Do I have some vocabulary that could so definitely identify me? A rather disturbing thought. Well, he couldn't remember what particularly struck him - apparently it was just the way I spoke. 

And then it became clearer ' You married me at St. Andrew's St Baptist Church back in the mid 80's' he claimed. Then checking himself, he added: 'No, I think it was the associate minister who actually married us, but you were there. And that's why I know your voice.'

What an intriguing incident, reminding me of the distinctiveness of our voices. I know how much they convey who we are.  My younger son, Rob, a professor in the US, wrote a book: Finding your voice, in radio, audio and podcast production. Unusually he spends much time at the beginning helping students strengthen their self-understanding, encouraging them (by various exercises) to recognize qualities, abilities as well as limitations which contribute to unique personalities with distinctive voices. All adding up to reveal authentically who they are!  

Another reminder that how we speak and sound really matters!

A season

I have long been aware of God's seasons of blessing when a whole Christian community experiences joyful God- happenings. They happen in God's good timing - the Spirit blows where he wills! Last Saturday I was back at Arbury Road Baptist Church where 60 years ago we celebrated the opening of a new church building. I was 21 years old and I vividly recall elements of the story leading up to this event. Because my father was minister I could hardly avoid the event. So many factors coalesced into a glorious God season.

• a packed church fast out-growing the old premises
• commitment to pray for vision about the future, developing into possibilities of new premises to be built in gardens around the inadequate old building.
• sheer generosity - one of the members, who was an architect, designed a building (which still looks contemporary) and promised oversight of the building process as his gift to God.
• collective boldness in giving. My father held a 'Sit-In' when church members brought gifts and loans to him in dedication for the project (he did not know the financial details - that was confidential to the Treasurer who sat next door!)  What a great idea that I copied in two church projects myself)
• signs during and following of God's blessing as the congregation grew, with baptisms and launch of the first 'All-Age-Sunday School in British Baptist life. 

The day of opening shines brightly in my memory bank. Such excitement of a new worship area with real cause to worship inside it. What a crowning event in a rich period of congregational growth, resulting in the need for an associate minister to join the leadership team.

On Saturday a crowd enjoyed a celebration tea. I found two photographs: one of the old church in the snow in 1963, and the other in the week of completion of the new, with builders' rubble still piled in front. They've gone into the archives. Only 3 of us were there as witnesses to events 60 years ago, but what a time to celebrate God's goodness in a great past season of joy. I hope you can reflect on a season like that -maybe it's happening right now in your church!

Slow Down to Praise

You know this business I mentioned in my last sermon - slowing down to praise God for his creation? Well, I shared in a delightful conversation with a friend I met in a local garden centre.  He mentioned how he had been transported back as a child to Birdlip Hill. My mention of this scenic viewpoint in the sermon had triggered memories of how his grandparents, who lived in a village near Gloucester, would take him up to drink in the same vista that I had described - with awe and wonder.  He told me how he, like me, can close his eyes and picture the breathtaking scenery above the Cotswold scarp, as the Vale of Gloucester falls away before your feet. Indeed, he thinks he may still have an old photograph!  To sit with hot chocolate and scone and share together vivid memories of the same glorious view of God's creation was a surprisingly good slow down moment.

The eclipse experience last week provided a more obvious occasion . Behind the new estate that has mushroomed behind our house open fields lie flat towards the horizon.  The moment of closest eclipse was around 7:08 pm in Cambridge, so I set out about 6:45 to walk through the houses onto the path that runs beside the fields.  I took my best sunglasses but was horrified to realize how useless they were. With my Fuchs Atrophy eye disease I am meant to avoid sunlight.  Just as I discovered this my kind church neighbours returned from vigil with their grandchildren. 'You should really use these eclipse glasses!', she said, holding out a pair of cardboard galaxarium eclipse glasses. What an idiot I felt when I donned them. The moon was moving ever closer, the crescent was narrowing. I could see it so clearly and safely.  

Walking to the path I found people strung along its length, looking upward. Groups large and small, couples, singles. Silent. Totally absorbed. Looking upwards.  I walked a little way along to find a space. The quietness had a quality of awe and wonder. Nearby a young woman was resting on her bicycle. She had no eclipse glasses and was barely able to look into the glare. I offered my loaned pair and recognizing that I was a harmless old guy she willingly took them! Her face was transformed with delight. It was near the time of maximum eclipse. Just wonder. Talk about slowing down to praise God for his creation. This amazing cosmic event before our eyes.  After a while she told me she saw the total eclipse in 1999 when she was a small child growing up in Greece. How unforgettable that was, and now a further experience was added. 

I know you can stare with wonder and not praise God, but how glorious to praise him when you are truly moved with awe!

Deadline met

Puff..puff..pant..pant! Yes, the Hebrews deadline for Encounter Bible reading notes was met. And just to prove the point, let me briefly summarize the last two chapters.

Beware entanglement (Heb. 12:1:-13) I had to confess that I got the balance wrong between encouragement and warning. Thrilled by the cloud of witnesses cheering us one I minimized the danger of 'throw off everything that hinders' (verse 1) which is the main issue. The whole point of the passage is to warn this young church that enduring in the Christina race is no easy thing. That's why the subject of discipline looms large in the rest of the passage.

My Utmost ( Heb 12:14--29) Like the title of Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest' this passage exhorts us to give our best energies to living in God's peace and holiness. Effort is needed for the consecrated life. Old Testament examples illustrate the challenge: Esau, an anti-hero, who traded his spiritual rights for good, and two mountains. Sinai, terrifying in its holiness because of God's presence,is contrasted with the 'divine' mountain of God's eternal kingdom in the new covenant. However joyful this gift is, we can never treat God's holiness lightly. He remains as holy judge.

Good practice (Heb 13: 1-16) I contrasted a list of Summer habits I had recently read (like hydration, sunglasses etc.) which was me-centred and rather trivial, with this list which focuses on doing good to others. How demanding each issue is. Nothing trivial here. Giving hospitality, befriending prisoners, integrity in marriage, right attitude to money. And, surprisingly, the famous verse about Jesus being present in every age(verse 8) is sandwiched between exhortations to respect godly leaders. And, as you would expect with Hebrews the need for boldness and confidence in worship rounds off the list. Jesus expects practical differences to show in our lifestyles.

Booster send-off (Heb. 13: 17-25) Respect for leaders emerges again as do a few hints about the reader's situation, though they don't provide enough clues for identification! But what stands out with memorable clarity is the benediction (verses 20,21) which gloriously crowns the letter. I love the picture 'the Great Shepherd of the sheep'. What a powerful God booster send-off , blessing us that by his Spirit he seeks to keep working through us for his glory. 

It's such a privilege to be invited to write notes for such a wide international readership. I am truly grateful as an old boy to have been given this opportunity, I really am.

2nd piece of advice

 I've always associated a second piece of advice with a pastor called Stanley Turl, in my earlier years: ‘ A preacher should always preach one sermon a year that the people don’t easily understand'. I fear preachers can quite easily preach confusing sermons - we don't need advice about doing that. But what lies behind is the famous claim in Isa. 55:9 when God says 'my ways are not your ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts'. His ways and thoughts are so different. If we think we have worked everything out, that we’ve got God's plans mapped out, we are in terrible danger of making God too small.  The more you are prepared to wonder, the deeper you can go. But you have to be careful. Because God has given us his word in the Bible, in which we can go more deeply. 

So, I value teachers who are true bible scholars. Who probe Scripture listening to God's truth. It’s perhaps no surprise in my bereavement that I have been rereading a book called Surprised by Hope by Tom Wright. It’s reimagining heaven, resurrection and how it affects our faith and mission. It’s a complex and, yes, controversial book because to paraphrase his concern its that most people think Christian hope is simply that we will go to heaven when we die, leaving this poor world behind for ever.  In fact, some views of the end time discard this world because there’s a better place and different reality.  Wright asks if this is what the Bible says. He’s particularly concerned about forgetting the Jewish understanding of this wonderful creation here. About Psalm 148 truth, this world set in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away (verse6). Rather, God’s whole purpose in the death and resurrection of Jesus is to redeem and restore and renew his creation and to rule over it as king. When the Lord’s prayer says Thy will be done, Thy kingdom come, on earth as in heaven this is powerful and revolutionary. On earth. For new creation has begun here with Jesus now. 

Like other bereaved people, I wonder where Carol is now?  Could it be, in the words of Wright -Heaven in the Bible is not a future destiny but the other, hidden dimension of our ordinary life. God’s dimension. ike a curtain lies between what we see and what is already his new work with us. God made heaven and earth; and at the last he will remake both and join them together forever. When we come to a picture of the actual end in Rev 21, 22 we find not ransomed souls making their way to a disembodied heaven but rather the new Jerusalem coming from heaven to earth uniting the two in a lasting embrace.   

Heaven is part of present reality. And for those who die are held firmly within the conscious love of God and conscious presence of Jesus Christ until they await the day of bodily resurrection.  We can call this paradise. It is a communion of saints, brothers and sisters in Christ. The church triumphant and expectant set within the new creation. Could this be? I love the thought of Carol remaining close in a God dimension. This is what I mean about being pushed in our believing about God. There’s so much talk about AI, the advantages and worries about artificial intelligence. And it is capable of outdoing human intelligence. But it will never be a match for DI - divine intelligence. That's the real thing. 

Interruption and God-bothering

After describing the breathtaking view from Birdlip Hill I had to interrupt myself. On my desk I have a prayer card with a picture of Elyanour and her children. She tells her story in Gaza - what she sees is a landscape of destruction and fear. It's a BMS card with prayer requests. Looking at her is humbling. What a privilege we have when we see our Summer views. And how much we should pray and care for those facing distress. We are a very fortunate people, aren't we?

Back to Birdlip Hill. As teenagers we weren’t very sensitive. I didn’t notice what percentage of that crowd were so irritated, even angry, about these enthusiastic noisy young people interrupting their enjoyment.  Much later in life when Carol and I worked for BBC Radio Blackburn religious program some in the studio actually called us God botherers to our faces. 'Here come the God botherers!' Psalm 148 is a God-bothering psalm. Most people know how to enjoy looking at this world without the need for God.  And we think we know about praise, too. Praise is telling someone they have done a good job. It applauds, recognizes work, skill, character. But this psalm profoundly challenges us. It isn’t about us praising God that he has done a good job in creation. He knows it’s good! This psalm is all about us joining in with creation’s praise. With what’s already going on all around us. 'Creation declares the glory of God, the skies proclaim this is God’s world'  (Ps 19)  Yes, the whole of creation is alive giving glory to God.  This is about everything. Everything -  things above, things on earth  - reveal God’s invisible qualities – as Paul puts it: his eternal power and divine nature (Rom 1;20). Beauty, design, order. complexity. This God bothering psalm doesn’t let us sit on top of Birdlip Hill  or wherever we are in Gods’ world, without declaring that all we see is God’s doing. As it resonates like a great symphony to God the creators’ praise, we are commanded to join in.

This psalm gives two lists for joining in. The first is all about joining in with the heavens above, about which we know so little: praise him from the heavens, praise him angels, praise him sun, moon and stars, praise highest heavens, let them praise the name of the Lord (verse5). We are part of a singing creation letting rip in wonder as you see what he’s done. Unreservedly we should join in a profound union with all this wonderful, amazing stuff of which we are part. And our place is made clear in the second list.

The second list praises God from the earth. And the praisers include: great sea creatures, ocean depths, lightning, hail, snow, clouds, stormy winds, mountains, hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals, all cattle, small creatures and flying birds. (Notice some of his favourite things -fruit trees!) And then,  emphasizing how much we belong in God’s creation - the world of people. kings, nations,  young men and women, old men and children.  I love the way the psalm ends with special mention of his people, his saints. Those close to his heart , alongside sea creatures, fruit trees, small creatures. When we join in creation’s praise,  we are part and parcel of the wonder. You and me, made in the image of God..

 

Sermon Detour

On Sunday I am preaching again (that's rare nowadays). I have mentioned before my dread about being one of those old boys whose preaching has passed its sell-by date. Carol always promised she would let me know and I know she wouldn't hesitate. Of course, I shall now need to be extra sensitive myself and read the room!

Anyway I have two pieces of advice in mind as I prepare. One came from my own pastor when he gave me Psalm 148 as the chosen text. He wrote how I needed to help the congregation reflect on the beauty and majesty of God the Creator of all good things and to marvel how powerfully creation sings yet without for words (Ps.19). And he said that I should encourage hearers to SLOW DOWN these next summer weeks whether on holiday, walking around, or enjoying a picnic. Slow down in order to praise God for his wonderful creation. And this is a great psalm for that.

As a teenager living in Gloucester there was a place you could drive to up a steep hill, Birdlip Hill, up onto the scarp edge of the Cotswolds. A wide grassy area opened up on the edge of a sharp drop. Beneath lay a glorious  landscape stretching across the vale of Gloucester, and far beyond. A rolling landscape with hills, fields of all shapes, sizes  and colours, trees clustered. The city in the distance, Roads criss-crossing. Somehow everything working together beautifully, somehow in harmony.  On a clear Summer evening you could see for miles and it took your breath away. You just had to slow down and marvel.. And as a famous viewpoint in good weather there would be a crowd on blankets with picnics. Drinking in a glorious sight. And on this one Sunday evening, my father who was pastor of the church had organized the church youth group to go there after the evening service. With instruments - I had a piano accordian. We stood off to one side of the crowd and my Dad threw his voice to greet them on this glorious evening and say we were going to sing some hymns, songs to God about his wonderful world.  I wish I could remember. what we sang: There was an old hymn at the time:

Summer suns are glowing, over land and sea 

Happy light is flowing bountiful and free.

Everything rejoices in the mellow rays, 

All earth’s thousand voices swell the psalm of praise.

That would have fitted the scene well. But I must make it clear. I know what a privilege it is when we can share scenes like this. So many in our world cannot. I have a prayer card on my desk with a picture of Elyanour and her children in Gaza. Her story is so different. Fear and destruction is all around. On the card are prayer requests from the Baptist Missionary Society and the Bethlehem Bible College. How much of our beautiful world is in ruins.