Evening Prayer 31st December

Jonah 3-4
When presented with the stark reality of Jonah's attitude it is difficult to empathise with him. He gets cross because he has to go and tell people to repent or they will be destroyed. Then he gets cross when they do repent and they are not destroyed. His anger is in the fact that God is gracious anyway so why did he have to bother going. (Of course he seems to forget that a whole city did actually change their hearts in the story!!). It is like Jonah is peeved at having to be involved at all! Why should he have to be - can't God sort it out on his own?

Then he gets cross about he bush and the worm. He is cross because something that was given is taken away - something he didn't ask for in the first place.

Does this reflect something of our attitudes to God? Resentful if we are the only ones who seem to be bothered? Not particularly grateful to God when we receive blessings, but cross enough when they are taken away?

Colossians 1:24 - 2:7

In this reading Paul is a marked contrast to Jonah. He is gloriously thankful for Christ and for his involvement in the spreading of the Gospel.

Rather than simply wandering into a place saying a few words and sulking (the Jonah model of evangelism) he is passionate for the people he has met and is desperate for them to be as thankful as he is.

I guess the difference between the two of these messengers, is that what is reluctant and the other is inspired. Paul sees his own thankful heart as part of the good news he has to share. Jonah would simply rather be somewhere else.

Attitude is everything!

Thoughts
These to readings side be side present a stark choice for us and ask the question, "how are you feeling about your calling to follow Christ?" It is a reminder that we are hugely blessed by God and our response in thanks and praise to Him is what makes our lives open to the possibility of a deep joy in all circumstances.

God is good - all the time - and it is vital that our lives reflect that sure conviction and embrace the privilege we have when we respond to his call.

Morning Prayer 31st December

Isaiah 59:15-21

The language of this passage is St. Paul's inspiration for the whole armour of God. 'The breastplate of righteousness' and the 'helmet of salvation'. But Isaiah's image of the Lord going to battle continues in a more physical manner. Rather than a spiritual battle requiring a sheild of faith and shoes symbolising the readiness to proclaim the gospel of peace, the Lord is clothing Himself with fury and vengeance.

Isaiah's language continues to talk of requital (retaliation?), repayment and wrath. Such power will cause the enemies of Zion to tremble and honour the Lord!

But then, a change of emphasis. For those who will turn from their falsehood, the Lord makes a 'spiritual' promise; His Spirit will not leave them and His words will remain with their children.

Redemption - the saving of Zion - is described in terms of an eternal covenant relationship with God.

Is there is a new imagination emerging through the prophet? A move from understanding redemption in political terms to understanding it in personal terms; a move from retaliation to reconciliation - at least for those who will turn to God with integrity.

John 1:29-34
What does John the Baptist mean when he proclaims that Jesus is the "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world"? And why doesn't John the Baptist know who Jesus, his cousin, is beforehand. Did his Mary and Elizabeth not share their insights?

To take the first question, there was an ancient tradition that talked of 'a lamb like a lion' who was able to see off all the other animals in battle. A paradoxical animal, whose strength was hidden and surprising. It is a well rehearsed understanding that the Messianic expectations of the time were linked to the political liberation of Jerusalem and maybe John the Baptists expectation islinked to this too - politicl liberation that will bring about justice and peace. This would make perfect sense in the light of the prophecies such as the one in Isaiah above and John's own ministry would be seen in this light too- calling a people to repentance so that they might be in a place to reocgnise the redemptive acts of God at work in their midst and become part of them, rather than turning away.

But Jesus is going to deal with sinful humanity in a more fundamental way than legislative changes can ever achieve. In doing this, he will be more like the Paschal Lamb whose sacrifice opens up a new relationship between people and God.

So, in this way, John the Baptist may have not fully understood Jesus. Who could have fully grasped that the Word made flesh, the Son of God was going to lay down his life in Sacrifice?

Thoughts
God has been very surprising in Jesus. He has changed the parameters of justice by finding a way of fighting sin in broken humanity. The language of retaliation and wrath makes way for expressions of new covenants, new starts and freedom from the causes of sin that create the injustice in the first place.

The Spirit and Word that are received through Christ break the boundaries of the imagination of even the greatest prophets.

How can the Church of today ever take this for granted? Surely we must overflow with praise and joy to our God who is doing this even now!

Evening Prayer 30th December

Jonah 2:1-10

Jonah prays the experience of faith. Here he is, in the belly of a big fish - a particularly unpleasant location - and what is he doing? He is praising God! And at the same time he is explaining why.

He has spent the last months of the story running away from God and from the calling he knows is there, deep within.

The running away has led from one problem to another and eventually he is about to drown. His life could get no worse (in fact, if it carries on like it is, it ill not have any time to do so either) so he remembers God, in fact he cries out to the God he has been running away from.

The transformation is instantaneous - and surprising. He is rescued. At first sight his plight looks marginally worse than it did before - after all he is inside a fish. But he recognises God's providence and his recognition leads to acceptance and praise - and he is safe.

This is the story of faith. We run away expecting that we can get along better by avoiding the call on our lives. Only when things get bad do we call out in hope. The call in hope marks the change and the transformation that God brings to the darkest situation is experienced and the our world is different. We experience the difference and give thanks and praise for it. And we are in a safe place again - at least for a while...

Colossians 1:15-23
The faith of Jonah is quite different to the faith of Paul. Paul's faith takes off where Jonah's ends. Paul's faith is one where the questions are answered and the answers exceed his wildest hopes. The nature of God - the pre and self-existent One have been revealed in Christ and in this revelation the purpose and meaning of life have been fully revealed. No longer is it a questions of choosing obedience - embracing or rejecting the call - it is about the complete transformation of the worldview that removes fear from the equation and inspires the every thought and action.

And he is writing to people like me - who have been estranged and whose minds have not understood, but who have come to understand - and he is telling us to keep hold of the understanding and vision for all things that faith in Christ bestows. Do this, not just because it's true (which it is) but because if we don't we look back over our shoulders at the fear and doubt we felt before and we let it creep back. The darkness creeps through our consciousness trying to draw us away from the light of Christ and we become double minded and confused.

Thoughts

God is good. We know it deep down, but often we want to run away from it. But to run away is to run into darkness and fear.

Once we know the certainty of the love of God in Christ and have seen the vision He has for us and the promise He makes to us, there is nowhere to run to, or reason to run there.

It is frustrating for many in the is post-modern world who like to live in the grey areas of life that so many find true peace in Christ.

But we do and praise Him for it!!

Morning Prayer 30th December

Isaiah 59: 1-15

Isaiah is clear on this - the Lord's people are corrupt. The society of his day has turned its back upon God; it has become greedy and corrupt - self seeking. No-one is interested in truth but only in getting their own way. The courts have become a mockery full of people telling lies and justice is about the rich getting more an no-one is interested in real fairness and justice.
We cannot expect to continue in this way. Even thought these writings describe a society 2,600 years ago they are still accurate in their description of our world today. Maybe this is where the Church comes into the story. The nations will always become corrupted - Society will always harness the talents accommodate of the greedy and the selfish and their ways will always accumulate themselves power and wealth. But the Church is to be different. The Church is to be alongside these secular structures but is to be a sign of the Kingdom where justice and fairness, love and compassion are always the lived out values.
The nation Israel failed to live to this calling and today's news shows us that it fails still.
Can the Church fair any better? What a terrifying calling to live under. But the answer is here to. We must live with a constant attitude of repentance. Looking out for and dealing with the worldly perspectives that infiltrate the mind set and shape the decisions.


John 1:19-28
Here is John fulfilling his own calling to bring those around him to repentance so that the righteousness of God could draw near. It cost him everything to fulfil this calling. He enjoyed few worldly pleasures and withdrew himself to survive on the simplest of livings. In this way he was able to face his accusers with certainty over his role and calling in life and to encourage others to leave behind the sin and desires which prevent them drawing near to God.

Thoughts
These readings together speak into the situation faced by the Church in England to today.
Our Society has become obsessed with its own desires for pleasure and as individuals we expect to get what we want. This justifies our actions. We find it to easy to lie and misguide ourselves. We are able to raise billions in days to secure our own lifestyles but cannot give to the poor of the world. Our desire to maintain our lifestyles and put ourselves first has corrupted our education system, led us into debt and broken up our families. We will do anything to try and maintain our confidence, yet we are only misleading ourselves to stay in our arrogance. We have sown the seeds of our own demise in selfishness and it is only a matter of time before we reap what we sow.
Isaiah and John share the common call to us. Repent, change direction that righteousness may draw neat.

Evening Prayer 29 12 08

Isaiah 49:14-25
It is hard to read this from the perspective of the Jewish nation and imagine it fulfilled. The Jewish people are certainly not honoured as this passage suggests, rather they are still struggling to be recognised as a nation by many Arab states.

But one can see that when this is interpreted as the remnant of the remnant - that Jesus the true Israel - distilled down to one Son - when this reading is applied to him, we can see fulfillment. Jesus has seen his children, his brothers and sisters, those he called his family, those who try to follow God and bring the Kingdom in - they are flourishing. Nations are today bowing down.

Yet there is also the amazing truth of the experience that God has bought good things out of barrenness. This is my experience. It is hard to imagine and believe that He does this, but He does. And I need to rest easy in the confidence that You will provide for me.

Mark 10:13-18
There is an arrogsance that I sometimes share that we can stand in judgment of the Kingdom and of the Scripture and even of Jesus. I can remember my arrogance when I first started to go to church - actually thinking that the church were 'lucky to have me'!! There is a huge misperception that we do God a big a favour when we pray or when we decide to believe! O the arrogance! It is of course always us who are receiving and have so little to offer back. Maybe this is part of what it means to be like little children - to understand our dependency; to understand just how much we have to learn and are inexperienced; to recognise the authority we need over us to teach us and guide us.

Isaiah 55

Why do we struggle? Isn't it because we fear not having sufficient to survive? Isn't it because there is always something else we want that we feel we must work towards? Why are we motivated by these things? What is it in the human condition that causes us to continue to want more?
Isaiah is describing a world where what is necessary and vital for life is available without work or cost - it is offered freely. This is most often spiritualised in its interpretation - our experience does not allow us to believe other otherwise. The promise is exactly the opposite of the beginning of Genesis, where the human condition is defined by its toil. Here the words speak of a promise that will last forever.
In verse 4 there is a reference to David, a type of Christ, who will realise this promise. These words and their implications are mirrored in Jesus' in the Sermon on the Mount. A promise that is possible to live in this way.
But is all this simply wishful thinking. What is the source of this hope? Is it that God ha changed his mind - that he has seen the struggle of man as he lives out his day to day fight to survive and thrive and does not think that it is working out?
In Christ God offers an alternative to the way of life we have been used to. It allows us to break free from the achievement bound race for worldly success and provides us with a deep peace. This is possible and real even now - but is fragile and requires us to stop and listen and trust.

Luke 4:14-30

In this passage where Jesus returns home and preaches at 'his own church'. He speaks very graciously to them to start with - sharing the understanding of his calling based on the words of Isaiah and the day of the Lord's favour.
But his message changes. 'Joseph's son' is not going to perform any tricks for them; or even more significantly, the message he is bringing is not for them.
Here you can understand the anger and disappointment of the crowd. The most exciting thing to happen in Nazareth for a long time is not going to happen after all!! Jesus is quite focused on what he is called to do. And pleasing his family and friends at home is not part of it.
With a bluntness we often save for those we know best, he tells them straight that he is not going to play to their expectations. He tells them that it will be very difficult for them to accept him because they know him too well.
But maybe worst of all, that his message is 'foreigners' - maybe even those outside Israel.
After such excitement and anticipation about the Messiah having actually arrived, it's not hard to understand their disappointment - or even anger.
But Jesus calmly ignores them and walks away. He has set his face forward. There's no going back.

Luke 3 15-22

John the Baptist is an incredible person. A real hero of faith.

He is steeped in humility - always pointing towards the One who is to come, always prepared to step aside when his role is done.

He is 100% commited to the work he has been given to do. He has given up everything to be the person that God has asked him to be - living in the desert to prepare and focus himself, preaching with clarity and conviction.

He is fearless - speaking out clearly against what is wrong in his society, whatever the cost - a true prophet.

Such a life is quite a contrast to Isabella Gilmore who is remembered in the Anglican calendar. Where it is true that the same commitment and humilty are called for in serving as a deacon in a commuinity there is a singular difference - that of being called to live in and be part of the community. To do this requires a different gift to John. The prophetic role cannot be quite as outspoken, otherwise the deacon becomes too separate. It is one thing to judge and speak from the outside, it is another to act out the call from the inside.

Luke 3 15-22

John the Baptist is an incredible person. A real hero of faith.

He is steeped in humility - always pointing towards the One who is to come, always prepared to step aside when his role is done.

He is 100% commited to the work he has been given to do. He has given up everything to be the person that God has asked him to be - living in the desert to prepare and focus himself, preaching with clarity and conviction.

He is fearless - speaking out clearly against what is wrong in his society, whatever the cost - a true prophet.

Such a life is quite a contrast to Isabella Gilmore who is remembered in the Anglican calendar. Where it is true that the same commitment and humilty are called for in serving as a deacon in a commuinity there is a singular difference - that of being called to live in and be part of the community. To do this requires a different gift to John. The prophetic role cannot be quite as outspoken, otherwise the deacon becomes too separate. It is one thing to judge and speak from the outside, it is another to act out the call from the inside.

What is striking about John's message is the contrast between the intensity and almost anger and threat in his voice and what he actually demands.

Here he is threatening that the axe is at the root of the tree, that every tree that does not bear good fruit should be cut down and demanding people repent. Yet what he actually asks for is so 'basic'. He demands that soldiers and tax collectors don't exhort and that those with more than they need share. It seems so little.

There is a lot of talk oabout the perfection God demands from us - about the necessity of Christ's sacrifice to pay for even the tiniest sin or thought - that all sin is the same, however small and the demand for perfect obedience is uncompromising by God. Then his prophet demands some basic human respect for each other!

I wonder whether that is the pinnacle of human imagination before Christ? Simply doing the decent thing and keeping the basic laws of society is our target prior to the self-giving love Christ revealing to us a higher way of being. In which case, it is not simply that Christ pays for deliberate sins - h also reveals the new humanity we are being called into - the new creation we are to fulfil ourselves.

Luke 2:1-20

Luke gives us in this passage the memories of Mary that she had ‘treasured’ in her heart. What an experience that must have been - a young, trusting herself to God in the face of the threat of rejection from all around! Her situation is made worse by a long journey – probably by foot or mule – when she is in the last months of pregnancy.

But in this place of exposure, where her faith must have been stretched to its limit, God provides powerful reassurance and does not the birth of Jesus to go unmarked. The angel, U assume its Gabriel continuing his work visits those shepherds to tell them to go and visit. I’m sure that the symbolic implication is there – that Jesus is for all, even the lowest of the low – but maybe there is another reason.

Maybe the shepherds in their low life are the ones most likely to have compassion for Mary in her situation. Maybe they are the ones whose hearts go out to those who find themselves in situations of rejection and lowliness in life – there is no risk of a snobbish rejection of a baby in a feeding trough. Maybe the Shepherd would understand.

But as is always the case throughout the birth stories – fear or dread is turned to happiness and joy as those who have responded to the call of God receive their surprising reward.

Luk 1:57 - end

This passage marks the end of the story of the birth narrative of John the Baptist. The main character continues to be Zechariah. His is a story of one who questioned whether or not God was really going to engage with His world and found his own call difficult to accept.
But it is in embracing anf fulfilling God's call on his own life that he finds his own personal freedom and fulfillment. This is done in completing the work to be done - naming his baby John as directed. The name cements the purpose of John's life which John is then raised to fulfil - the name means "The Lord is gracious" and the work God is doing in Christ which John is to herald and prepare others to receive is just hat - gracious.
But I can't help feeling for Zechariah. The process of accepting the will of God for one's own life can be very painful. It does demand that a person reconsiders their whole life, let's go of ideas and actions that have been survival mechanisms for many years. More than that, it involves the apparently risky business of faith and hope. Faith in the extraordinary intervention of God as he lays a hand on an individuals life - hope that God will remain to true and enable and empower.
This is real and difficult.
And the truth is that there is no peace or joy without accepting this call. And in acceptance there is release and joy - which is of course Zechariah's experience here as he opens his mouth to affirm God's will.
Of course, in hind sight the best thing to do is submit sooner!! But that is always easier said than done!

Luke 1:1-25

Luke's Gospel begins with a reference to fulfilment. It is very difficult to think of anything as fulfilled today. The world is so constantly changing and the pace of change appears to be accelerating. If I look at my own life - I hope I am not completed yet - I had hoped for more yet!!
But Luke is talking of a different kind of fulfilment. The sort of fulfilment that marks the end of something looked for, something expected and the arrival of something new.
The account of Zechariah's and Elizabeth is therefore written to ensure that references to what was expected and is now fulfilled cannot be missed - at least not by those who have come to understand.
The events of John the Baptist and Jesus' birth are not isolated events. They are part of vast train of events going right back to Abraham, indeed right back to God's creative act in man (as will be shown in the genealogy of Luke in Chapter 3). So the events that precursor Jesus ministry itself are passed on in the same tradition. Zechariah and Elizabeth, faithful yet childless, continue the story from Abraham and Sarah and from Elkanah and Hanah.
The angel Gabriel - the eschatological messenger of Daniel, bring the message to Zechariah and it will be 70 weeks until Jesus is presented at the temple, fulfilling the language and expectation of Daniel.
John, the child of Zechariah, will be a prophet with a mission to preach repentance, to turn Israel back to God in preparation for the coming of the Messiah - this in keeping with the prophetic expectation of Micah - one like Elijah will come.
As Luke pieces all these things together, you can almost feel his heart burning (like those on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:32) within him as he writes of the fulfilment of the prophetic expectations of Scripture.
Here 2,000 years on Luke has achieved his undertaking when our hearts burn too. Many people who are not familiar with the Bible and live in the context of society saturated with media may wonder why people get so excited about it. The answer is here. It is not a rule book (although there is plenty of wisdom to be found) it is the revelation of God as to the purpose and destiny of humanity and testimony to the fulfilment of his plans in Christ.
That all will come to fruition (as Morpheus form the Matrix would put it) is not a matter of faith it is only a matter of time.

John 3:31-end

Some translations have these words as the words of John the Baptist, others as the words of John the disciple whom Jesus loved. It all depends on the quotation marks! But I am sure that the two John's would have both agreed with these words.
The words testify to Jesus as the One from "above" (as in John 3:7 - you must be born "from above" rather than "again" as Nicodemus misunderstands"!!), the One from Heaven. The One from Heaven has been given words to say - words that are inspired by the Holy Spirit which has been given without limit. The words and the power of God given through the Holy Spirit are the true nature of God - we know what God is like because of His Word in Christ. A person who hears and accepts this - i.e. believes in the nature of God and aligns their lives to the will revealed (however difficult and flaky this adjustment may be) is heading for eternity with God.
What is unusual is the understanding that for those who hear and reject God's word, "God's wrath remains on him". To understand "wrath" in the context of this heavenly language is to draw us back to the reality of a world in which people are evil and aggressive. Many will hear the words of Jesus and see his life as weakness and foolishness. They will not allow their grip on what they want to relax whatever the cost especially to others. The reality of wickedness in humanity when this happens is too real. This cannot be a situation that God will allow to continue for ever. So the wrath of God - although forgiveness, love and the Spirit are offered without limit - remains inevitable for those who continue to reject the way of peace.

John 3:16-21

What new can be said about the most famous of all scriptures, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosever believes in hims shall not perish but have eternal life". Every single world of this sentence has been analysed and mined for meaning - God, love, world, perish, Son, believes, eternal life - each word so pregnant with meaning.

Yet the meaning is so very simple; that God is for us and not against us; that God has passed the boundaries we would imagine based on human graciousness to let us know it and has taken away fear and offered us life. What more do we need to know?

Try this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJAvPQyS5O0

Matthew 1:18-25

Joseph had his perception of the world changed. Even though Joseph was a religious man whose faith was part of his understanding of the world, the idea that there could be direct intervention by God in the world was unreasonable to him. Like many of us, the idea that the physical order could be influenced the way it was with Mary - a new creative act of God within her womb - the only interpretation of events was that Mary had conceived the child with another man.

But Joseph has his own world-altering revelation. Another visitation by an angel reaffirms Mary's news - what is happening is happening because the Holy Spirit has done something new.
Once the reality is embraced the world is a different place. His actions become clear, resolved and he is able to embrace his part in the unfolding story.
He affirms this be completing his duty in the way ordained by the angel - he names the miracle child, Jesus.

Note: Image available from http://www.kevinmayhew.com/Publisher/Article.aspx?ID=96102

Luke 1:26-38

The questions I am asked the most - especially by children - about the anunciation and how God 'made a baby' with Mary is "Didn't God have sex withe Mary then?!" Of course, it is not an entirely serious questions, more a questions aimed at ridiculing thw whole idea that a virgin could miraculously conceive. Luke was doctor himself and the question would have undoubtedly occurred to him (and to anyone else fascinated with the mechanics of things) and Luke provide the answer the angel gave, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you". The result of this is that "the holy oneto be born will be called th Son of God".
It has always seemed to me that just as the Holy Spirit is the creative force behind the start of the universe (and indeed its sustaining force) so the same creative power is involved here. The conception in Mary is a creative act of God - not a sexual act. If we look at the world around us and embrace the miracle of its existence, the miracle of another creative act in the womb of a virgin seems entirely acceptable. If, however, we explain everything according to cause and effect and imagine that the physical universe is eternal in its own right, the conception in Mary's womb is impossible without a physical cause - i.e. a sexual act.
Our acceptance, as ever, is a function of the breadth or narrowness of our world view. To embrace the miraculous requires us to embrace our possible ignorance and relinwuish the pride of our knowing and to let God be God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.

John 20:19-end

At the end of St. John's Gospel (see earlier blog) there were three key messages that he wanted to get across - i). that the death and resurrection of Jesus are central to God's plan, ii). repentance and forgiveness is the response the disciples are to encourage and iii), that the believer would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to empower them in their work.
John has these same three emphases but expressed in a different way.
The first key message is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God - believing this leads to life. The death and resurrection, his miraculous signs point to this truth. Accepting and embracing Jesus as the Son of God - as the One who shows us God and leads us into Heaven is life-giving because it releases us from fear into love. Thomas, originally frightened and hiding behind locked doors, is released into faith and the blessings that come from having fear and doubt replaced with love and faith. This blessing is received through accepting and believing - and we don't need to meet Jesus face to face to receive it.
The second message - repentance and forgiveness in Luke - is here replaced with the imperative - forgive and sins will be forgiven, don't forgive and people will remain unforgiven. This is the motive behind the message. Without the revelation of Jesus, people will not know or believe that they can be forgiven. The way of the world, of human nature is not to forgive easily; more often they way is to engender guilt and to manipulate it. This is the worst characteristic of a worldly church. But those who know they are forgiven will want others to know that they can be too. In contrast, those living in fear and guilt will want them to remain with them!
The third message, the power from on High - the Holy Spirit. In the fearful and secret place that the disciples found themselves in after Jesus had die, the sign of what is to come is given. - Jesus "breathed on them" and said " Receive the Holy Spirit". The breath of God that gives life is given in this dark place to give them the strength to continue - the strength to believe and respond. That Jesus breathed is a sign of His resurrection life and that the resurrection power is gently given to the disciples gathered there.
So the same emphases, although expressed in different language, are shared between Luke and John as they round of their Gospel accounts. Jesus - His Person and His work is God's Way offered to us; our need to know that we are forgiven and release us into new life is the response to Jesus; and that we are given the gift of the Spirit to empower us to forgive and live - not just for ourselves but for everyone.

1 Corinthians 15.51-end

We use the language of mystery to talk of things that are not not known. To talk of a mystery is to talk of something unknown where the complete understanding of events and reasons cannot be fathomed. Like a murder, mystery, suspense film where what has happened looks impossible to discover, but eventually someone will unravel the clues and reconstruct events such that what actually happened can be understood.

When St. Paul uses the word mystery, he too is talking of something that has been hidden from us - something that has seemed unfathomable and unknowable, What will happen to us at the end? Paul uses the clue of the resurrection to paint a picture of events as they will be. Having seen the reality of Jesus alive, heard the stories of how his body was somehow transformed, having understood the promises he handed to his disciples, he pieces the facts together in a very concrete way. Yes, we must all be changed. The seed must become the plant , the butterfly the chrysalis. Is death the trigger point for this? There will be a moment, says Paul, when this will happen for everyone - alive or dead. Why? Because that's what happened to Jesus. That's the clue that reveals the answer to this most vexing of questions. We will become like Him and it will be achieved through an act of transformation by God.

But what does Paul mean by the phrase "this mortal body must put on immortality". This image conjures up the idea of the body being clothed - of sinking into a new garment. Could "put on" be better understood as going into - almost being translated into a different form in a different place? The physical into the spiritual? The picture by John REILLY seems to capture this wonderfully and captures the hope better than words...

1 Corinthians 15.35-50

Paul is being challenged about the nature of the resurrection body. What's it actually like? At one level Paul's argument seems very straightforward. He seems to be saying that we are very used to categorising the natural world around us. We categorise what we see according to the different properties things have - different 'glories' even. The stars are classified, different sort of animals and plants are categorised. Each is different and we are very used to diversity of the world around us. The spiritual and the physical are additional categories. Both with their own properties - 'glories'.
This argument works very well for those who have accepted that a new creation has taken place - that there is a 'spiritual man' who has been experienced. The logic is sound - there is now a new human being that is connected to the current human being in the same way that a seed is is connected to the plant. First the physical is sown and through growth and maturity becomes the spiritual man. The physical is the precursor to the spiritual, a necessary part of the cycle of growth. As a seed becomes a plant, as a chrysalis becomes a butterfly so physical man becomes spiritual man. This is a perfectly rational way of processing the additional experience of Christ.
Of course, it doesn't help people accept that there is a resurrected spiritual phase of humanity. But then the question of what the spiritual body will be like cannot be asked unless the possibility of a resurrected body existing at all has been considered.
Once our world view has accommodated the greater reality we have now experienced after the resurrection of Christ, we can then begin to explore the nature of that broadened awareness. After all, it is only once you have accepted that the world is round that you will venture to new shores to see what's there!

Luke 24: 35 – 48

There are three very clear statements in the closing passage of Luke’s Gospel.

First is a clear understanding that the death and resurrection of Jesus are essential. There was no way to avoid the suffering before the cross and no way that the cross and death would destroy Jesus. For all people today this message applies. And as we are ‘in Adam’ – of one humanity – so we will be ‘in Christ’. Jesus as the complete human being reveals to us that our own suffering and death is unavoidable, but so to is our resurrection. Death is not the end.

Second is that the message to be preached is one of repentance and forgiveness. We need to turn to God if we are to have the fullness of life that Christ has. This turning is less a condition in the way we would need to meet a legal obligation or match a set of criteria to qualify for a competition. The turning is placing ourselves in a place where we can receive. We receive forgiveness – we know that the seen we have just allowed ourselves to wake up to is forgiven – which of course is a great encouragement to come to terms with more and more as the fear of retribution dissipates. But we are to receive far more than forgiveness. Forgiveness is just the beginning.

Third is that the disciples will be clothed with power from on high. This is deliberately enigmatic of Luke. It is like the cliff-hanger at the end of the first part of the series that prepares the way for the sequel. Luke knows what this power is and is preparing the reader for his second instalment – Acts. The Holy Spirit is the promised power and it is through this blessing that the message will be delivered, but more importantly the Holy Spirit will be the power that breaks humanity out of its current self-destructive patterns and into the reality of the new Kingdom – the new humanity Christ has inaugurated for us. We will be changed.

So Luke sums up succinctly the Christian message of hope. This life’s journey, whatever it may bring is essential, even ordained, but the greater life is yet to come. We start our journey towards this new life with an act of repentance, by turning towards God and discovering that whatever sin becomes illuminated by the light of Christ as we do so, is forgiven. Our journey is sustained, powered and realised by the work of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit, His own power, His own Self, clothing us as we move onwards.

God is good!

1 Corinthians 15: 20 – 28

“Since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man”. The difficult thing about this is not understanding that in Jesus God did something unique in bringing in a new age, but the rooting of the argument in the idea that death came through a man and a literal reference to Genesis in the same context as the resurrection. And the contemporary challenge to Paul’s argument arises from how we take the different texts.

The first few chapters of Genesis are taken by most to be a different sort of a text to the resurrection accounts. They are stories aimed at explaining the state of the relationships between God and people; people and each other; people and the planet. To accept these stories as history takes us beyond what is reasonable in the light of our understanding of the natural world. That’s not to say that such understanding is aimed at placing the human mind above God, but rather that the gifts God has given to the human race has enables them to explore the universe to the point at which they can critically appraise preconceived or inherited ideas – including the literal acceptance of a creation story.

So does this changing worldview undermine Paul’s argument and understanding of what God is doing in Christ? I don’t think so. It’s a little bit like the writer of Hebrews saying that the cultic practices and laws were a mere shadow for what Christ has done literally. Christ the reality blows the stories and images out of the water. The same kind of thinking is going on here – just as the relationships between God and people have been understood as being broken through the decision taken by Genesis characters to turn away from God and to hide, so the reality of Christ has taken the relationship between God and people into a new phase. In the past we understood through stories (shadows) but now we understand through revelation in person – the real thing. Rather than undermining the contrast between the old and the new our deepening understanding of our world gives scripture here a deeper meaning. The analogy becomes more profound.

The difficulty is, of course, that we live in the time when the old and the new compete for space – both in the world and in ourselves as part of the world. We belong to Christ as Paul says, and in Him, the first fruits, the Kingdom is complete. But in His Grace God has allowed the dominions, authorities and powers to continue that they too (whoever they may be!) may become part of the Kingdom - not by force, but by choice. God’s gift of patient love has a high price but will win the highest returns.

1 Corinthians 15:12

Many things in Christian tradition and language can be thought of as symbolic. Jesus' great "I am" sayings are mostly powerful symbols of the closeness and completeness of His person with God's. The 'light', the 'gate', the 'bread of life' point to the revelation, the way and the means by which our journey to and in God are dependent upon Jesus.
But 'resurrection' is more a concrete, literal word. Jesus is the Resurrection - the One who brings in Himself the fullness of the Creation - the One who is resurrected and the One in whom we will be resurrected. It is not simply the case that we have been shown what will happen to us - 'as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive' - it is also in Christ Himself that we will be resurrected. In other words, the unity of Christ in God, the complete intimacy to the point of oneness that Christ has with God in His Resurrection will be ours too.
Being a Christian, following Christ into His death and resurrection is a life choice in real terms. To be "in Christ" is to who know that we will be one with God and as we await that time, we live out our lives in that context. This future hope shapes our present and gives our lives the meaning and purpose necessary to complete them.
Compared to the fullness of the Resurrection, though - this is nothing and what is harder to bear is that the decisions we make in the light of our hope, as opposed to the more mundane experiences of our competitive lives, will often look futile and ridiculous.
Deciding to act on the basis of our future hope is bth transforming and terrifying. It's what faith really is.