A church that does you good...

I found this cartoon from Asbo Jesus. I find it funny but also very sad because it can be so true.
I long for a church that heals, that walks alongside, that is compassionate, suffering with people, that doesn't judge or make inappropriate comments, that doesn't say you are okay then you find out you've been stabbed in the back. I long for a church that accepts without reserve.

Today I led folk in thinking about the Methodist emphasis on the priority of God's love, that all are welcome and all are accepted in the ethos of my denomination. I passionately believe we need to rediscover that basic principle of what we are about. I am sorry when I keep hearing stories of people stressed by church, made unwell by church and staying away from church because of unchristian behaviour they experience from people who should know better!

I remain in the church to change the church. Someone told me this morning to never stop being me and never stop saying what needs to be said, even though it can bring horrid stuff to me personally. I read Luke 4 verses 16 to 21 this morning, Jesus manifesto of Kingdom values in the synagogue in Nazareth. The faithful there received his words and were so angry they tried to hurl him over a cliff. That hasn't happened to me - yet!

I discovered this "mission statement" in a church I visited recently. I like it:

Our mission is to proclaim the love of God and share the good news of Jesus Christ with all people.

Our vision is to grow in faith: to worship, pray and learn,  to care for one another, to offer support and encouragement. 

Our aim is to serve others; to be a good neighbour in the community,  to challenge injustice,  to use our resources wisely.

That to me is what a church is for. That is how we become relevant again. Being there, being open, feeling people’s pain and joy, and not being frightened to get our hands dirty for others, rather than beating up others who aren't like us or challenge us.  People this morning loved the fact we sang some Wesley hymns. 

If we are really to celebrate Wesley and his story, then a real celebration of him and what God hath wrought would be to emulate his talent for reaching out to ordinary people in practical demonstrations of Christianity. Sounds simple, doesn't it? 

Christian Aid - not a week a year only

I did assembly on Friday afternoon at our local school. As I walked in the school, I sensed something was not quite right. The Headteacher pulled a face at me when I asked her how she was and I noticed her summoning children one by one into her office.

At the assembly, she went onto the stage and gave the whole school what for. There had clearly been an “incident” and she had spent all day investigating it. She said “you have let me down, where’s your respect for one another? If you see it, you say so!”

If you see it, you say so! I get inspiration from the strangest place… It made me think about our responsibilities in the world as part of a global community.

If we see it, we need to say so, voicing the wrong, sharing the hurt of the world with others and then doing something about it so it doesn’t happen again. Monday morning at that school they hope will bring a new start as someone somewhere shares what might have happened and the issue can begin to be resolved – whatever it is!

If you see it, you say so!

I wonder though whether because we live in an era where the news is “in your face” we take the injustice and suffering and the cry for help in the world less seriously. We can get news weary. We can get used to scenes of distress, even when we are warned “this report has some things some people might find distressing.” Is it easier to ignore the situation, keep quiet, seeing it but not talking about it, hoping it will go away?   

Jesus tells us to love our neighbour and so on - but what if I don't want to do that because my own life is so complicated today?

If you see it, you say so!

What if I can’t be bothered to say so? What if it is easier to keep my head down, because the need for aid might be messy? Do I allow the pain to continue, the injustice to continue because we are too wrapped up in what might happen to us if I stand up and am counted? 

It is easy to ignore the world’s pain, to say it has nothing to do with us, there is nothing to say. We see it, but we say nothing, so the negative things continue because we didn’t intervene. 

At the beginning of Christian Aid Week, I think we all can justify our failure to give aid, but sometimes we betray the Christ who suffers for the world and all his teachings which are all about giving help where help is needed. Jesus gets involved with Christian Aid every day. I believe the God we worship and Jesus shows is one of mercy, infinite grace, compassion and care, and who chooses to enter the difficult places and transform them.

The world is not right yet, but we don’t bury our head in the sand, or hide in fear for speaking out, we believe that we can make a better world, beginning here, and praying and giving for other parts of the world we will perhaps never visit. If you see it, you say so. I love what Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said, “Don’t give up, don’t be discouraged, I’ve read the end of the book. We win!”             

If you see it, you say so.

We see the world as it is as we watch the news and so on today, but we also see the possibilities that bringing Jesus’ love into that world can bring.

How can we really keep quiet, or do nothing?