Renew Your Mind

The journey of Holy Week is rich in resonance- in the path Jesus travels we hear the footsteps of Adam, of Moses, of Rahab, of David.... "After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with the police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, 'For whom are you looking?' " John 18: 1-4 The first betrayal happened in a garden. It was the act that sent man and woman out of Eden on their journey, seeking a way back home. And now it is again in a garden, a place pregnant with the promise of rest, renewal and life, that death is traded instead. God creates us with fre...

Stephen Cherry writes this: Untie my Depths My mind is still, my body is at rest; you are my desire But I am alone; alone with a knot- a knot in my depths. A tight, congested inner tangle, I would love to tease it out. I pull a strand, the whole know tightens. I leave it alone. It does not go aways. I raise my feelings to my throat, the energy is caught below, I raise my thoughts high in my head, they are anchored to the knot. What is this multi-threaded mass? Who or what makes it rest here? It drags me down, seals me within, constricts my soul. Disentangle me, Lord. Unpick my inner knot. Unravel my complexity. Unweave my deepest confusion. Untwist the channels of spirit within. Pull apart the strands. Prune the nuisance strings. See my spiritual sclerosis and soften, soften, soften. Stretch me from without. Bless me from above. Breathe your Spirit through me and, by your mercy, untie my depths. Stephen Cherry 'Barefoot Prayers- A medit...

And so it begins...this week we walk in the steps of Jesus, on his final journey towards the Cross. His journey has been heading relentlessly towards Jerusalem- towards a clash between the Kingdom of God and the powers of this world. This was never going to be a straightforward journey- from the moment that Jesus turned away from the temptations of the Devil to make it easy, to take the smooth highway of popularity and power. On this day, we long for it to be simple, so we give branches to the children to wave, and palm crosses for the old folks to tuck into their bibles, and we sing Hosanna! But when we read the accounts of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, it's not such a simple story. He rides on a colt, a young donkey, hardly the steed of a conquerer-in fact, could this not have looked foolish? And Luke writes that as the crowds around him waved their branches and sang psalms of praise, Jesus himself wept: "The whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God jo...

Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. We have been on a great journey, through the pages of the Bible almost from beginning to end. We have shared journeys of national importance, and private, personal travel. And we have seen that most journeys are complex things, more than a straightforward movement forward, but usually holding in tension excitement and fear, promise and challenge, good news and bad. And now, surrounded by this great crowd of witnesses, we stand on the brink of the Last Journey- as we fix our eyes o...

Paul was a man full of energy and purpose, a man on the move, and perhaps it is not surprising that he should use the idea of movement to express what life as a Christian was like. He describes it not just as a journey, but a race: "Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one wins the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable garland, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified." 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 He writes these words to the believers in Corinth, an important Greco-Roman town where athletes and gladiators were the celebrities of the day. They trained and competed for the temporary glory of winning- and Paul asks what we can learn from them? In what areas of my life is it a challenge for me to exercis...

Once Paul became a follower of Jesus, his energy and enthusiasm sent him travelling. "As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers." Acts 16:4,5 Paul didn't have any of our 21st century ways of sharing his message- he knew that he had to personally travel, speaking to people and sometimes living and working among them for months as he taught them about Jesus and how to live as Christians. How lucky we are today to be able to not only read the words of Paul in our own language, but without leaving our armchairs to be able to access the thoughts, sermons and lives of men and women from all over the world who can share with us what it means to follow Jesus. We can travel across continents and across time to be encouraged, challenged and inspired. Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica: "...

Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus is maybe one of the most famous journeys of the Bible. He set out on his journey that day with a clear goal in mind, a clear direction to travel- but God interrupted his plans in a dramatic fashion. Paul changed completely, from persecuting the followers of Christ to becoming one of Jesus' most passionate and zealous ambassadors. Not many of us have a conversion story to tell that is quite as dramatic as Paul's. But I wonder how many of us are open to God interrupting our plans? If something happens to disrupt our schedule, do we see it as an irritation or an opportunity? Maybe the journey God has ahead of us looks quite different from the one we imagine for ourselves.....

The book of Acts is full of movement, energy and purpose. This was an exciting time in the history of God's people- but the journeys of Jesus' faithful followers were often full of danger. Sometimes when we read Acts we wish that our churches today could be like the early church, but would we really want our journeys to be like those of these early Christians? In Acts 6: 7 we read, "The word of God continued to spread; the number of disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many priests became obedient to the faith. Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people." But only a chapter later, we read that Stephen is on trial for his life. The journey that he is on is taking him to new and exciting places, but for some of those around him, the challenge was too great so instead of joining him, their fear led them to attack him. "Some of them...stood up and argued with Stephen. They set up false witnesses who said ...

The book of Psalms is not at the end of the Old Testament, but it is the book with which we will end the Old Testament part of our journey. We have met travellers whose journey changed the future for themselves, their families and the history of God's people, and we have met travellers whose journey was seemingly insignificant, mattering only for them. We have shared the journeys of those who travelled in hope and excitement, looking forward to better things, and those whose journey was one of escape or desperation, forced to run away or reluctant to leave. We have begun to see that while travelling is not inevitable, it is a reality for many of God's people and it is often by undertaking a journey that we learn new things about ourselves, about what matters to us and most of all, about the God we worship. Psalms 120 to 134 are called the Songs of Ascent, and are traditionally thought to have been used as songs to sing while travelling- specifically on a pilgrimage to the tem...

If Lamentations speaks tears of sorrow, then Hosea shows us the tender heart of God, who wipes away our tears. Through the long arc of human history, we see the same themes- human beings deciding that they can figure out the best route for their journey, that the alternative paths on offer look so much more enticing than the straight and narrow path of righteousness. And then the consequences of that pride- a journey that becomes more and more lonely and dangerous, until it becomes obvious that we are lost and in need of rescue. Hosea uses soft and tender images of family to show us God's love, which over and over again sends him to find us. "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the more they went from me; they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and offering incense to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human ...

Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us; look, and see our disgrace! Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to aliens. We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows. We must pay for the water we drink; the wood we get must be bought. With a yoke on our necks we are hard driven; we are weary, we are given no rest.                                                                     Lamentations 5: 1-5 Let's pray today for those whose journeys are forced on them- for refugees, for those who have lost their homes and their families, and all that they have worked for. Lamentations is a book of sorrow, a chorus of pain and disappointment, a search for reasons and blame which gives no answers. As we read the news today, as we look out of the windows of our cars, our offices, our...

'Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.' Jeremiah 6: 16 This is our quest, this Lenten journey- to look back at ancient paths, paths which have been trod long ago and written about in the pages of our Scriptures. We have been asking questions of these journeys, because we want to know where the good way lies. As we walk together with these travellers of old, towards the Cross, our prayer if that we will indeed find rest for our souls.

Halfway through the Old Testament, the genre changes from narrative to....well, to a collection of books which are less easy to categorize. Sometimes we call them Prophets and Wisdom literature, and it is probably true that most of us are less familiar with them than we are with the stories and characters of Genesis, Exodus and Kings. Perhaps it is good to be reminded that journeys should provoke not just action, movement and progress, but also a time for reflection on where we are heading and what we are learning. Today's reflection come from the book of Isaiah- an often confusing book of prophecy, which sometimes seems to have little to say to us today: but spend some time with the emotions, longings and sorrow of Isaiah and you will meet a man who is seeking to communicate just how much God loves His people. In Isaiah chapter 35 we read this alluring vision of the future- is this a future that your journey is leading to? 'The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad...

David's journey had begun with such promise. As the oil from Samuel's anointing dripped down his face, he might easily have believed that his life would change- for the better. But for the next chapters of 1 Samuel, we read again and again of Saul's jealousy and suspicion, of threats to his life, of David running to caves, deserts and foreign kings. How do we react when our journey is difficult? Do we complain that it is not fair- what have we done to deserve this? Do we harbour a belief that our life was supposed to be easier than this? Have we believed the myth that if we trust God, He will make our journey easy? David's story reminds us that even though we live as sons and daughters of the King, we live here and now in a world blighted by sin and our journey was never going to be easy. This weekend, read some of David's own words... O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good His steadfast love endures for ever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Those...

Samuel the prophet has come to the family of Jesse on the Lord's business. He is to anoint the next King of Israel. The only problem he has is although God has told him where to go, he has not told him who to anoint, and Jesse had eight sons. So Samuel assumes that it must be the eldest son who is the chosen one- but God has other ideas. The Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7 We hear clearly here the truth that we saw played out in the story of Ruth- that we are all significant to God, and whatever the world around us might think, He sees our heart and has great plans for us. Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring ...

The Bible is a great treasure of stories: from the dramatic ups and downs in the life of the nation of Israel as they journey out of Eden, into Egypt and to the Promised Land; to the small, homely stories of one person and how they travelled on the journey that unfurled for them. The story of Ruth is one of these- like a burnished miniature, her story sits quietly between the grander, more important stories of Judges and Kings. There would be so many reasons to overlook the story of Ruth- she was a woman, which in the world of the Old Testament would be reason enough. She was a widow, and she had no children, which meant that in the economy of the day she was worth nothing. And she was not even an Israelite- she was from the country of Moab. And yet her story is written in the pages of God's book. Ruth has a journey to make, and her journey leads her to meet this God. He does not see people as we do- He does not give them value according to their gender, their race or their sta...

Yesterday we read of the call to Joshua to be strong and courageous- and in the early chapters of the book of Joshua we meet a woman who showed great courage, with unexpected consequences. Rahab was a prostitute living and working in the city of Jericho. She is introduced in Joshua 2:1 by her occupation, with her name added almost as an afterthought as though she only existed to offer a service, to be used as a commodity. Her job defined her, in a way that brought her only shame. And yet, she found the courage not only to offer shelter to the spies Joshua sent into Jericho, but even to hide them in her house at considerable risk to herself. Because of her actions, she and her family are spared when Jericho falls. "But Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved. Her family has lived in Israel ever since." Joshua 6:25 Not only does Rahab survive, but she thrives in her new community. She marries Salmon, and they become the parents of ...

After years travelling in the desert, the people of God stood at the brink of entering the promised land...and they were afraid. Journeys lead us somewhere new, whether physically taking us to a new place to live, a new job, even a different country- or a journey into a new experience, a new challenge. New things are exciting and challenging, but at the same time scary. How do we handle those feelings of apprehension, nerves, fear...? Joshua and the Israelites show us two possible responses. We can let our fears overwhelm our excitement, until the challenges ahead grow to be giant obstacles and we doubt that we can overcome them. Deuteronomy 1:28 "Where are we heading? Our kindred have made our hearts fail by reporting 'The people are stronger and taller than we are, the cities are large and fortified to heaven!' " Or we can face the unknown with strength and courage, listening to the words that God spoke to Joshua: "Be strong and courageous; do not be f...

The Israelites learned many things on their long journey through the desert- but one significant truth was where God was to be found. They discovered that they did not have to wait until they arrived in the Promised Land before they could worship God- He was with them in the desert.  He led them by a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night; He met with Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments; He provided for their needs with manna to eat, and water from a rock. And when He gave Moses instructions about building a place of worship, that place had to be portable. " You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze; the poles shall be put through the rings so that they shall be on two sides of the altar when it is carried." Exodus 27:7 Richard Giles comments "The sanctuary is not to be some static holy place to which the people of God make pilgrimage......Instead of the people of God having to journey to Him, God will travel with the...

"I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed..... The Lord is my strength and my might, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him."   Exodus 15:1,2 This great journey was a journey out of oppression into liberty; out of labour for another into a future where work would be done with dignity; out of powerlessness into independence; out of hopelessness into promise. No wonder the people sang with Moses and Miriam, songs of praise to God who had set them free. The journey begins with such drama, such emotion, miraculous signs and wonders. Some journeys begin small, but not this one- this one is marked by walls of water, defeated and drowned enemies, dancing and tambourines. In this season of Lent we look forward to Easter morning, when again a great and decisive journey from darkness to light is celebrated- a journey that changes forever the identity of those who share in it.

The book of Exodus is named after the great journey it describes- a shout of freedom, an epic journey that comes to define who God's people are. But for many years, even generations, the people experienced the opposite of freedom. 'Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, "Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them...." Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them.'   Exodus 1: 10,11 The early chapters of Exodus are a story of power- and here it is the king who has the power to keep the Israelites trapped. Sadly, this abuse of power is not confined to the past- it is estimated that 29.8 million people are held in slavery today. ( 2013 Global Slavery Index) Today, investigate the work of the International Justice Mission, and pray for those they seek to liberate. https://www.ijm.org/casework/forced-labor-slavery https://www.ijm.org/case...

The last great journey of Genesis is that of Joseph, and in many ways it seems to be a journey downwards- outwardly, things started to go wrong for Joseph when his brothers sold him into slavery to a caravan of Ishmaelites, and got worse when he arrived in Egypt and was falsely accused of harassing Potiphar's wife. 'And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison.'  Genesis 39: 20 Far from being a journey of opportunity, of excitement, of promise, this is a journey which Joseph did not choose to make, and which results in loss of opportunity and freedom. The fate of Joseph at this point mirrors that of God's people, who within a few generations found themselves working for the Egyptians as slaves. These Old Testament stories warn us against assuming that journeys will always lead to better things. When things go wrong, how do we respond? Do we think God has abandone...

Stand at the arrivals or departures areas at an airport for a while, and you will see that journeys are not only about place, they are about people. People we have to leave, people we are travelling to. People whose lives have changed while we have gone, and the changes in our lives since we saw them last. Sometimes it is the people in our lives that trigger our travels. That was the case for Jacob, Abraham's grandson, whose relationship with his brother Esau eventually drove him away. Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are approaching, then I will kill my brother Jacob." But the words of her elder son Esau were told to Rebekah; so she sent and called her younger son Jacob and said to him, "Your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran." Genesis 27: 41...