Be Still And Know

2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. On a childhood holiday, I once found a lobster pot washed up on the beach. I launched it into the waves and watched until the tide carried it out of sight. Later my dad told me that the coastguard helicopter had been alerted to a possible small boat capsized out at sea. It was discovered to be a lobster pot, probably my lobster pot, floating in the water. That story illustrates how many feel about their life; adrift with confusion and fears. It is a challenge to rest in the mercy of God. Circumstances and events appear to work against this. Yet, St Paul tells me that in such circumstances, when I feel completely diminished in the midst of life, this is a place of grace. The challenge is to weather the storm and rough seas that may carry me away, like the lobster pot. Are we able to accept the hand of God in this?

Romans 12:1 NLT 'And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.' ‘Sacrifice’ is not a word we encounter much in our society. If heard at all it is usually presented in ways that draw attention to me: “I sacrificed to put them through university.” The very statement places me centre stage and I anticipate both respect and admiration. But this conspires with my pride and debases the mercy of God, which alone is the basis upon which I’m invited to live my life. I may not speak of my sacrifice but I often allow myself to feel hard done by as I complete unwelcome chores, believing I’m making a greater sacrifice than others. Such a view of sacrifice will only lead to bitterness, which in time will rob me of my joy. Sacrifice is to give up something by choice for the greater benefit it will bring to others, not merely myself. Jesus is ou

Matthew 6:12-15 NLT '…forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.' It is difficult to grasp the scale of God’s forgiveness. Jesus points out that we first have to experience the extent of our waywardness before we can comprehend our need for God. For years I took my acceptance by God for granted. I hadn’t grasped that God’s forgiveness was not on merit but by grace. I remained unaware of my real need for God, somehow believing I was a reasonable and OK guy. This meant I easily entered into criticism and judgement of others as I considered myself better than them. But no one but God is good (Mark 10:18). In acknowledging my waywardness, or sin, I accept that I am wholly dependent upon God for everything. This demands humility; I no longer advance my own merits. I

Psalm 51:1-2 NLT 'Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.' Who doesn’t love a hot bath? After a day working in the Oratory garden, I look forward to the prospect of sinking into a hot bubble bath. Most people carry secrets, often guilty ones, from their past. These can be the cause of shame combined with a fear of exposure and discovery. Yet, God’s promise is that we can be cleansed and refreshed in ways even my hottest and sweetest smelling bath cannot match. This is the reality of mercy. God invites us to become fully relaxed before him, but also to live in complete peace with ourselves and those around us. The consequence of working in the garden is that I arrive at my bath with the marks left from my endeavours. Muddy knees, elbows and hands, scrapes, cuts and bruises. These are eased as I lower myself into the welcome waters, yet unless I apply some soap and elbow grease,

Matthew 9:13 NLT Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Mercy lays the foundation for both forgiveness and acceptance. Mercy means I am delivered from the consequences of any action someone who has authority over me might take. As parents we err on the side of mercy when dealing with our children. They may have to face certain consequences arising from their actions, yet we fail to impose the full penalty. So, as a child, when I broke our next-door neighbour’s window with my catapult, too tempting a challenge and target, my parents made me contribute towards the cost of the replacement glass, but didn’t demand the full cost. They also dealt with my neighbour and shielded me from his anger. The greatest act of mercy we have is God’s forgiveness. Here, not only are we invited to avoid the unpleasant consequences of our separation from ou

Galatians 6:10 NLT 'Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone – especially to those in the family of faith.' Jayne and I have noticed that on social media groups set up across our community, the majority of the messages have an edge directed towards others, known or unknown. An easy opportunity to record criticisms containing personal frustrations with behaviours that are different to what we might prefer. At times, it feels like everyone has adopted complaint as a characteristic. I have made it my practice to carry my criticism to God and usually repent of a bad attitude. I may not appreciate how another behaves, but their behaviour does not demand I act in a similar way. Having discovered grace for myself, a grace totally undeserved, I really am the last person to accuse another. My primary responsibility is to reflect that grace through my life. One way to do this is by doing good to others. That good begins with reframing how I see them and refusing to enter into judgement

Acts 27:13-14 NLT 'When a light wind began blowing from the south, the sailors thought they could make it. So they pulled up anchor and sailed close to the shore of Crete. But the weather changed abruptly...and blew us out to sea.' Robert Burns the poet gave us the well-worn phrase: “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” No matter how carefully and responsibly we prepare, our lives remain dependent upon the grace of God. Historically, my initial reaction when my plans went awry was to react with frustration, often anger. Experience has taught me that it is best to pause and reflect. Action taken in reaction usually makes the situation worse. I want to navigate successfully through my changing circumstances. One thing is certain, God’s word and his promises are always more reliable than my assumed expectation. When my business venture went down last year, my initial reaction was anger, with an attempt to salvage what I could. I was blindsided. But then I chose to pause and reflect. I accepted th

Ephesians 5:15-17 NLT 'So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.' My dad was distinctly unexcited about my choice to enter Christian ministry on leaving Oxford. One piece of advice from him I still remember from that time is: “Remember that good habits will always create fresh opportunities.” I’ve become increasingly grateful for this wisdom, even though it has taken me time to determine to build my daily life on good habits. When we moved into the Oratory, we were presented with a wonderful, relatively large garden. It was a blank canvas in that it had hedges each side and was laid to lawn. The hedges were high and dense, and we gazed upon a sea of green. There were no flowerbeds at all. It offered ample opportunity for a low-maintenance garden with just mowing the lawn and trimming the hedges. However, it also offered an opportunity to imagine an

Hebrews 11:14-16a NLT 'Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland.' The writer to the Hebrews illustrates the positive character of hope by listing all those biblical characters who journeyed with God, yet never saw the full outworking of the promises seeded in their heart. Like us, a mystery accompanies them upon their journey. We carry a purpose for our journey, yet may not realise that purpose. Having said that, we do make many discoveries. Our challenge is to manage the disappointment of unrealised expectations. This is the point at which we can waver on whether to continue or turn back. I have a passion for walking and will strike off into the countryside with little more of a plan than enjoying the wonder of vast woodland that surrounds me. I have a poor sense of direction and many of my rambles have lasted far lo

Colossians 4:5 NLT 'Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.' Over the centuries, the Church has attempted to obey the great commission to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20) in a variety of ways. There is an inbuilt resistance to the gospel throughout society in all cultures for our adversary, the devil, seeks to distract humanity from God’s promise of personal salvation. Consequently, Christianity has its critics and we can at times confirm our critics through our well-meaning attempts in serving God. We have to make judgements daily on how best to live out our faith. It is self-evidently beneficial for us to live as God directs us to, but not purely for our own self-interest. There is always a danger that the church community becomes an end in itself. Then all our attention is upon the character of our church and by default, we direct all our resources to servicing our church’s needs. We also need to maintain a close watch on how we live within our

Psalm 44:17-18 NLT 'All this has happened though we have not forgotten you. We have not violated your covenant. Our hearts have not deserted you. We have not strayed from your path.' Scripture makes it clear, the rain falls on both “the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). Our human framework for fairness is a million miles away from how God perceives the creation. There is only one righteous one, and that is God. I am no more than a redeemed creature who owes my life entirely to God’s mercy. I was delivered from my fractured state by grace alone and not as a consequence of my actions or worth. Fairness describes behaviour that is “reasonable and right”. God is completely unreasonable, yet always right. How can a crucified thief in the moment of a ‘deathbed’ confession of faith gain access to paradise (Luke 23:43)? How can it be fair that those who labour in the fields for one hour receive the same pay as those who have laboured all day (Matthew 20:12)? God looks beyond the outward appearance of fai

Psalm 44:9-10 NLT 'But now you have tossed us aside in dishonour. You no longer lead our armies to battle. You make us retreat from our enemies and allow those who hate us to plunder our land.' Life is often a battle. When a loved one was taken ill and when those I trusted undermined me, I fell into self-pity. We can all experience self-pity, but sometimes we get stuck there. Wallowing in self-pity undermines our willingness and capacity to respond to God and drives us to make matters worse by seeking inappropriate levels of acceptance and support from others. The worst outcome is that we find ourselves all alone, abandoned by others simply because we demand too many of their human resources of empathy and support. Alternatively, we can choose to build mental resilience and give thanks to God that we are never abandoned. Acknowledging our feelings, but determined to end the downward spiral such negative emotions inspire within, opens us up to experiment with different actions. Instead of investing mental and

Psalm 44:8 NLT 'O God, we give glory to you all day long and constantly praise your name.' For years I had my quiet time in the morning, then headed into the day without considering where God was. It was as though my early morning prayer and scripture reading was a talisman to see me through the day. I neglected to consider what friendship with God meant in my daily rhythm of living. St Paul reminds us that we are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17, NKJV). In other words, whatever we are doing and wherever we find ourselves, we are to be conscious of and talk to God. This is quite some discipline. If I am to become conscious of God throughout every moment of each day, I must wake up to the reality of God’s presence with me. Life’s pressures and the reality of my immediate surroundings will always dull my senses to the presence of Jesus. I need to discover how to perceive God in every circumstance. This is an acquired skill, essential to effective Christian living. Once I am aware of God, I have t

Psalm 44:5-7a NLT 'Only by your power can we push back our enemies; only in your name can we trample our foes. I do not trust in my bow; I do not count on my sword to save me. You are the one who gives us victory over our enemies…' My parents were always keen to build my self-confidence. I was encouraged to believe I could achieve what I wanted to. However, my father was told by my secondary school that I wouldn’t achieve the exam results to make A level study worthwhile. Somehow, I scraped sufficient GCE passes to stay on, and then proceeded to flourish, perhaps digging deep and finding the undiscovered learner within me. This taught me my destiny lay within my own hands, a lesson deeply etched into my consciousness through experience. However, my confidence, when placed entirely in myself, easily blinds me to God’s provision. Faced with a problem, I set about drawing on my experience and known strengths to combat and overcome it. Typically, I run out of ideas and I feel overwhelmed. This undermines my self-

Psalm 44:1 NLT 'O God, we have heard it with our own ears – our ancestors have told us of all you did in their day, in days long ago.' I was recently explaining to a young priest why my  train fares were discounted due to my senior railcard. Joking about my age and its benefits, he added other attributes that are to be appreciated that can come with age, including wisdom. Of course, getting old doesn’t automatically result in greater wisdom, but it can help. There is a great wisdom accumulated over centuries by the Church and its members. In my youth, I was often dismissive of those who had passed through life ahead of me. I assumed my skin-deep understanding of God and his ways was sufficient for me. Understanding is not built upon dismissing those who have passed through life before us. While I might construct a different perspective on history in contrast to earlier historians, I am not in a position simply to ignore their disciplined efforts in interpreting the past. Even though the Spirit still speaks to

Luke 24:31-33a NLT Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared! They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem. The disciples who encountered Jesus after his resurrection record a number of different experiences. Despite the differences, they were all clear meetings, usually unexpected. Certainly, arriving at their home in Emmaus, these two disciples encountered the unexpected. Life takes on the character of an adventure when you are a follower of Jesus. When the odds appear stacked against us, we can choose to sink beneath them or call out in prayer and look for the unexpected. This is a measure of our resilience, our ability to return to the shape we were created to be; that is dependent upon God alone. This takes courage and a willingness to surrender control over my own destiny. These two disciples had left Jerusalem

Luke 24:15-16 NLT 'As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing him.' The pursuit of God is a journey. We are invited to travel its winding pathway in conversation with God, who is always with us. The challenge is that we may not always recognise God’s presence. Another complicating factor is that what once seemed so clear when I first determined to follow Jesus becomes confused when faced with the realities of life’s many challenges. Here, two followers of Jesus begin their walk home to Emmaus when an apparent stranger falls into step alongside them. They fail to recognise it is Jesus, in part because they know Jesus has been killed and, like the disciples, have no experience and little expectation that Jesus has risen from the dead. We all have to learn that God is free from the constraints of mortal life and can intervene in unexpected and surprising ways. Having expressed their bitter disappointment at recent events,

Luke 24:12 NLT 'However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened.' Peter, the impetuous disciple, the one Jesus identified as the foundation for the Church, is unhappy simply with dismissing the women’s account. So he goes to check the grave out for himself. All is as they reported, although no angels remained to give him any directions. Having carefully checked the space out he returns full of wonder. Wonder is a brilliant asset for any disciple. Peter no doubt recalls Jesus’ teaching, so confusing at times, and the promise of the resurrection. He, perhaps more than most, was desperate to address the guilt of his own denial. Faith seldom offers us clear and unequivocal answers. While the scripture that God neither fails nor forsakes us is true, discovering its practical reality when tragedy strikes is a process of wonder. Many questions rise to the forefront of our minds and we are left to pond

Luke 24:9-11 NLT 'So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples – and...told the apostles what had happened. But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it.' Like the male disciples, I am sure I would have dismissed the women’s tale. Like the disciples, Jesus confronts my denial through personal encounter. The Easter message proclaims that we can encounter the risen Christ today. Christianity is not a series of beliefs, it is a relationship with God that we are freely invited to benefit from. We may encounter Jesus in every situation we face, if we first accept that he has risen from the dead. Of course, if we seek to establish this upon the basis of material proof alone, we shall be forever seeking and never finding. While there is a rational case to be made for the resurrection, its reality demands faith; that is moving beyond rationality. I have been happily married twice. My first wife died and I subsequently remarried. While I can describe a list of objective r

Luke 24:5b-7 NLT 'Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.' Throughout my life, since leaving my parental home, I have carried a box of precious things. These are items that carry special meaning for me. There is nothing remarkable among them, save the personal memories they carry. That box is now in my loft, since I do not return to it on a regular basis. I know where it is, just as the women thought they knew where Jesus was. Dr Luke reminds us that the presence of God is ever-moving. We have to remain alert to ensure we are pursuing that presence and not assuming we can settle for what we think that we know. Whenever we assume that we have taken hold of God, we are in danger. We can easily move our gaze from God to the many distractions life presents, and wake up one day to