Roundabout Online

What Hope?

The European leaders are struggling to try to save the euro and our own government is worried. The western economies are all deeply in debt. Most of us face reduced salaries, pensions or benefits as a few rich people get even richer. And we are singing carols.

Often in our carol services we read from the books of the prophets: Isaiah, Micah and others foretelling the birth of the Messiah. But Isaiah, Micah and the others had a lot more to say than that.

They also warned people that if they carried on living with the wrong priorities they were heading for disaster. They needed to change how they were living and take on the concerns of the living God for the land, the poor and the powerless: to turn around and change their way of living.

They said people should not think to themselves, ‘We are God’s people, we’ll be all right. God won’t let anything really bad happen to us.’ Trusting in God was not just a matter of saying the prayers or singing the songs, it was a matter of living the life.

As Micah put it, ‘What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?’ And, of course, ‘justice’ for Micah involves actively helping the poor and powerless.

The prophets were addressing a much simpler society than our own, but I think the message stands the test of time. If a society has the wrong priorities it ends up in a mess. And that is where we are.

Fortunately, that is not all the prophets have to say. They are adamant that God does not take delight in destruction and pain. Far from it. God wants people to enjoy a peaceful and full life. That is what God is struggling to bring about.

Micah again: ‘They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks…. They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid.’

New Year is a time for taking stock. We can think how we would really like things to be for ourselves, our friends and our families. We can think how we would like things to be for the world. Being realistic, we are very limited in what we can do to bring that about.

But what we can do is align ourselves with what God is about, and trust God, who is at work within the mess and beyond it.

Happy New Year? Maybe. Hopeful New Year? Where there’s God there’s hope. So, yes. Hopeful New Year.

                                            David Osborne, Rector

Little Town

It could be a disappointment, I suppose. The ‘little town’.

For a start, it’s not so little. Twice the size of Shepton Mallet, with foodstalls, traders, crowds of tourists, and traffic.

When I went there in 1972 we caught a bus from Jerusalem. It only took a few minutes to get there. Bethlehem felt a bit like a suburb. A lot of people from Bethlehem would work in Jerusalem at that time. But not now.

Now there is the wall. The great concrete divide that stretches across the country dividing Israel from Palestine. You need a pass now to get between them. And Palestinians have great difficulty getting passes. When things are tense they might also get a lot of hassle from Israeli border guards.

I also remember soldiers on the streets and buses. Bethlehem had been occupied by Israel in the war of ’67 and although the locals were very hospitable it was not a comfortable place to be.

Bethlehem was certainly not lying still. It was all a far cry from the Christmas carols and the pictures in illustrated Bibles. From everything I have heard it is now even less like the Christmas cards and picture books.

But when Jesus was born it was not a comfortable place either. It was occupied by the Romans. Admittedly they had been there a lot longer than the Israelis, but they were no more popular.

The country was run by Herod, whose approach to government was similar to that of Saddam Hussein or Muammar Gaddafi. A lot of people hated him but he was kept in power by the Romans who backed up his own forces.

And most people were very poor. There were some who were very wealthy, like Herod’s own family and other powerful groups with whom he had to do deals. And there were some traders and skilled workers who had a reasonable income.

But a lot of the men were day labourers, or farmers, shepherds and fishermen. They were vulnerable to price fluctuations, work shortages, and unreliable harvests and catches. And they were heavily taxed. A lot of the tax money went into the purses of the rich, and towards paying the armed forces.

That was the world Jesus was born into. Our world. A long time ago, but in many ways not so different.

And that is the world that God is involved with. Our world.

So let us sing the songs, and remember. It wasn’t a pretty picture then, and it isn’t now. But Emmanuel: God is with us.

 

                                                                                             David Osborne

Remember! Remember!

Let me be honest: I am not keen on fireworks. Specifically, it is the sudden loud explosions I do not enjoy. However, I do reluctantly attend firework displays because my family love them. So, why are they important?

 

‘Remember, remember, the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot,

I see no reason why gunpowder, treason should ever be forgot…’

 

These words refer to Guy Fawkes and they date from the 17th century. On the 5th November 1605 Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament with several dozen barrels of gunpowder. He was subsequently tried as a traitor with his co-conspirators for plotting against the government. Fawkes was sentenced to death and the form of his execution was one of the most horrendous ever practised (hung, drawn and quartered) which reflected the serious nature of the crime of treason. The following year the King and Parliament commissioned a sermon to commemorate the event. This became an annual custom. Lancelot Andrewes delivered the first of many ‘Gunpowder Plot’ sermons. This practice, together with the nursery rhyme, ensured that this crime was not forgotten.

 

I have never been asked to preach a ‘Gunpowder Plot’ sermon, and, of course, the way we remember these events today is with bonfires and fireworks. However, November 5^th is not the only date at this time of year when we remember.  Remembrance Sunday this year falls on the thirteenth November. At our services on that morning we remember, not with a bonfire, fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes, but with a time of silence and with poppies. These poppies were originally symbols of the lives lost in Flanders Fields in the Great War. They remind us of all those who have given their lives for our freedom. We also remember that there is still conflict in various places around the world today, so we continue to pray for peace.

 

In all our remembrances this month, let us give thanks to God as we remember all those who have had a positive influence on our lives; praise God as we remember that he has promised always to be with us, in good times and in difficult times; most of all, give thanks to God for his precious gift of life in all its fullness – a gift which is offered freely in remembrance of what our Lord Jesus has done for us.

Rev Nick Lakin

Where’s the Justice?

Most people know that Jesus said, ‘Love your neighbour’. He was quoting Hebrew scriptures that had been around for hundreds of years. Even so, someone still picked him up on it.

‘But who is my neighbour?’ said a lawyer. If he knew who the neighbours were he could ignore the people who weren’t neighbours.

As an answer Jesus told a story of a good Samaritan who helped a beaten- up man he didn’t know. The lawyer agreed the Samaritan was being a good neighbour and Jesus told him to do the same kind of thing.

Jesus could have said, ‘A neighbour is anyone we have dealings with’, but he preferred to tell stories, and they were often much more powerful.

We could ask another question. ‘What do you mean by love?’ For an answer to that we can look at how Jesus himself treated people. In John’s gospel Jesus says, ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’

This love is not basically a matter of feeling a particular way about people but looking for what is good in them and doing what is good for them.

But, what about when we are not dealing with people personally? We have dealings with lots of people and we don’t even know who they are.

The Hebrew scriptures don’t just talk about love but also about justice. ‘Let justice roll down like the waters!’ says Amos. ‘Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God’ says Micah.

Justice, for these prophets, is not about making sure everyone gets what they are entitled to. It is about doing what is good for people who are disadvantaged or who can’t help themselves.

In those terms, giving money to help people who are suffering from drought in Africa or from an earthquake in Haiti; supporting a local hospice for sick children; or buying fairly traded goods: these are all justice.

Justice is love at a distance. It is what love becomes when we are not dealing personally with people.

So, when we have to make a decision or try to understand what is happening, a question for us to ask is: ‘Where is the justice?’

When well-paid people argue they should pay less tax; when unions talk of striking to make sure their members’ pensions don’t change; when bankers receive bonuses of millions while welfare provision for poor children is being cut; when a supermarket chain is able to get the better of an elected planning authority because it has more money to spend on appeals: where is the justice?

                                                                                         David Osborne

Changing Times

I’m having a bit of a clear out at the moment so I’ve spent some time  in the loft, sifting through boxes that haven’t been opened for three years and deciding whether we need to keep stuff we haven’t looked at in this time.  One box had lots of photo albums and I couldn’t resist having a look.  One of the photos I found was of our youngest son, Peter, about to set out on his first day at school.

Pete’s uniform was pristine – as was his sandwich box.  Looking at the picture, I am struck by how small he was and how big his clothes!  His dad thinks he looks nervous.

Some of you reading this may also be having the experience of your child starting school.  Others may be in the process of raiding kitchen cupboards for things that can be used in a child’s first kitchen as he or she prepares to live away from home for the first time.  Some of you may remember your own first day at school or your first day away from home.  The thoughts you have may be of excitement, fear, sadness, happiness or a mixture of all four – or completely different. Change can do that to us.  But it’s part of life - so what gets us through it?

Each person we know or have known contributes to our ability to cope with change. Undoubtedly the support and encouragement of our local community, teachers, employers and friends is crucial.  But most important of all is unconditional love – the love that lets us know that no matter what happens – whether we succeed or fall flat on our faces – it is completely dependable. It’s eternal and unbreakable.  It’s the love of God and all other good parents and it allows us to move through change with confidence and hope.

Around the parishes at the moment there are several houses for sale or to let. New people are arriving as others move away.  Each person on the move carries with them part of the community they have left. I am such a person. 

My life has been enriched, nurtured and changed during the time I have lived and been privileged to work here as curate.  I have loved, felt loved, and been blessed.  I feel sadness and the pain of parting, but know that because we have shared this part of our lives together and because we can all depend on God’s love, I can step into the future giving thanks for you and trusting Him to be with us all as we part ways. 

 

Thank you.

                                                                                                                                    Lydia Avery