Chelley's Teapot

A bit more 'About'...

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:40:00 +0000

Here's my RevGalBlogPals 'Meet and Greet' interview that popped up on the RevGals site recently...

1. Where do you blog?
At http://chelleysteapot.blogspot.com. This is my revgals connected blog which was started during my curacy and was a bit neglected over the last few months, but I'm getting going again (slowly!)! I also blog... in an even more neglectful way... at http://wibsite.com/chelley.

2. What are your favorite non-revgal blog pal blogs?
Hmmm... wow, this is where I try and remember what will seem really obvious when I've finished this! From a Christian perspective I've enjoyed www.reallivepreacher.com and http://elizaphanian.blogspot.com.... and lots more, but my blog reading has been a bit sparse lately too. My mission will be to go out there and get inspired again! From other interests I'm afraid I have to confess to a bit of a geeky interest in London (best city in the world, though I am biased!) and London Underground of all things! So, http://diamondgeezer.blogspot.com, http://geofftech.co.uk/iblog (a Londoner now Stateside) and http://london-underground.blogspot.com are particular favourites!

3. What gives you joy?
Being inspired, the laughter of young children, beautiful countryside, satisfaction in even the small things of ministry, sunsets and sunrises, early mornings, birdsong, being a mum, music, time to be immersed in a good book, the thought of what's to come, sharing God...

4. What is your favorite sound?
Waves, birdsong, children's laughter, the voices of loved ones, violins, God's 'voice'... those echoes of the things that bring me joy!

5. What do you hope to hear once you enter the pearly gates?
I expect this will be the truly predictable answer, but I really would love to hear "well done good and faithful servant!" You see I'm not very good at thinking 'well done' but though I live in the knowledge of God's love, I'm rather too good at imagining him as a rather disappointed parent who notices my shortcomings, lazy times and lack of inspiration as much as I do! I was reminded recently of the times of discovery a long way back in my journey when the sense of being a loved, precious child was at the forefront of my walk and has been a bit overlooked in the years of ministry... replaced almost with one who expects more of me than I can produce. And yet, how well He knows me! Phew!

6. You have up to 15 words, what would you put on your tombstone?
Hmmm... "I told you so" would be the tongue in cheek answer (referring to what comes next rather than what sent me off!).Perhaps simply "she loved God and she loved us".

7. Write the first sentence of your own great American novel.
Can I have a British one please? I've looked at the screen for a while and come up blank, so I'd better not rely on producing fiction as an alternative career... but if I could come up with something like Jane Austen's wonderful "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." (Pride and Prejudice) then I'd be more than a little chuffed!

8. What color do you prefer your pen?
Blue. I don't know why! Should I have a profound reason for that choice... I think my writing looks nicer in blue! And now I come to think of it I do generally rather like blue, it is after all one of the colours of Spurs! (Tottenham Hotspur - North London football club and the greatest team of all!).

9. What magazines do you subscribe too?
None at the moment. But if I was choosing to subscribe from the magazines I like to read every so often (when finances allow) then I'd go for the BBC History Magazine, Country Living (despite living in an Industrial, built up part of England, just east of London!), Country Walking, or Period Living and Traditional Homes!

10. What is something you want to achieve in this decade?
Seeing people who's lives are lived near, and touch mine, grow in faith, purpose, love and hope and helping them along the way (as they often help me). Not only those who have been 'given' me to care for in the church and parish but to be someone who is a blessing wherever! (That's not meant to sound pious!). And aside from that, I'd love to fill my thoughts with things that inspire me, give me ideas, bring me closer to God... and if it's not being greedy - England winning the World Cup would be great! Though not really my achievement that one!

11. Why are you cool?
Because the window's open next to me.

12. What is one of your favorite memories?
Well, going back to what I said in number 5... the day when TeenSon (now 18) was about 4 years old and we were walking along the alleyway behind our then home to get to the Supermarket at the other end. He was skipping along happily ahead of me and I remember watching him with such a feeling of love and joy, and all of a sudden I 'heard' a voice say "that's just how I feel about you" - it almost stopped me in my tracks... God could feel that level of love and delight over me, and it had a profound affect! I need to remember it more often!

13. Anything else you've always wanted to be asked?
"Would you come and preach at our church?" (I might be an inspirer then!)
"Would you pray with me?" (Because it's a sign of openness to God)
"Would you like a cup of tea?"

Breathing life into the Teapot

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 10:41:00 +0000

Fortunately teapots are not prone to disintigration when long neglected! This little teapot is still ready for a brew... and it's good to bank on the familiar things of life - like a nice cup of tea - when all around is uncertain, unfamiliar of just challenging! Of course those three elements of life aren't necessarily negative ones: some of the uncertain, unfamiliar and challenging aspects of my own life are also exciting and stretching. TeenSon will be off to university in about a month's time, a special someone has found a place in my life over the last few months (the biggest surprise), vicaring still provides amazing delights and challenges that every day feel beyond me, but are fortunately not beyond God. And as my fortnight's holiday draws to a close (though not quite yet) my thoughts will turn again to how I meet the challenge of being the assistant shepherd to God's sheep in this place. The clamouring voices and demands line up to be heard - my own (usually suggesting a lack of many things), my mum's (look after yourself and home too), SS (Special Someone) and TS deserving quality of time and attention, the people of church and community to be loved and served and taught and prayed for... and in all that clamouring - the most important voice of all to strain towards... His still, small voice that makes sense of all others. I'll just put the kettle on and have a listen while the tea brews...

Time flies...

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:46:00 +0000

I can't believe I haven't blogged anything round here since last November!!

Well, that's sorted that out for a while then.

Blogland

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:06:00 +0000

I'm always delighted when all of you faithful reader(s?) come here and spend a few moments at this Teapot, which I'm rather fond of really, even if it was just because your Google search for "medieval teapot spouts with chipped handles" decided to divert you to the random thoughts of me. But now you're here, please STOP! And before you click NEXT or BACK have you considered clicking one of the links on the right to some excellent, excellent blogs... have you looked... they're great... Neil (exeter life - you may have thought you wanted to visit the Grand Canyon or Paris or Africa, but what about Exeter then?) and er, Neil (random stuff and quite a lot about films and poker) and DG (London, er it's hard to summarise the wonders of the Diamond Geezer blog - but we do get an annual update on smug marrieds verses singledom too!) and Geoff (USA from London and tube trains - and he's a Spurs supporter) and Kathryn (adventures of a vicar) and Annie (London underground's finest) and Russell (where to get a decent plate of egg, bacon, chips and beans) AND JAG'S ROUTE 79 LONDON BLOG (I nearly missed that one!) and the others, and then there's more of ME (you'll have to visit to see what that one's all about)! Yes I have another blog - one that's part of the wonderful world of Wib. I'm not quite sure how I came to have another blog when it's already a challenge to say anything worth reading on this one. I think it was to be part of the online wib community started by Dave Walker of Cartoon Church fame? They're a lovely lot over there too - perhaps you'd like to drop in for a little visit. I'm sure if you ask nicely they'll put the kettle on.
And, well, that's all I have to say at the moment - there's really no other purpose to this post than to blatantly* point at my other blog in the hope that you might go there and then be vaguely interested and make insightful comments. And to encourage clicking of links so that when I check my stats there's something to look at. Oh, and so I could use the "It looked like a profound thought was brewing... but it didn't" label - that's quite a tough one you know.

*I can never spell blatent... blatant.... (there's a dictionary behind me, but if I look it up then this comment will be rather pointless won't it!)

Just as I said I would...

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:33:00 +0000

Have Times (yesterday's), have tea (today's), have Aero (won't last 'til tomorrow) and as promised I will now endeavour to find something less random about which I can speak of here.

I only got as far as the first few pages yesterday but what struck me was the brave 13 year old girl, Hannah, who has had to defend, and fight to protect, her decision to reject a heart transplant for the heart problems she has as a result of Leukaemia treatment she's undergone from the age of 5.

She has been made aware that the drugs she would need so her body would not reject the new heart could bring about a recurrence of the Leukaemia; so an already risky operation could prove even more uncertain in this case.
But the situation took an even more appalling turn when child protection officers got involved, as the Times article says:
"In an interview with Sky News she described how she had made her case to a child protection officer after Herefordshire Primary Care Trust tried to have her removed from her parents’ care on the ground that they were “preventing treatment”."
Is it not horrific enough to watch your daughter go through years of treatment for a life-threatening illness, to then find that this treatment has so damaged her heart that a heart transplant is the only course of treatment for that condition, but that operation could result in a return of the Leukaemia; and THEN to have officials threaten to take your daughter into care because their opinion on the way forward differs to that of your daughter? I find it hard to imagine how a care order under those circumstances would be of any benefit to a girl who would then be forced into having a heart transplant. Perhaps it wouldn't have gone that far?

Now, I'm not so naive to believe that every family with children who are being treated for serious illnesses are perfect specimens of togetherness, or that child protection issues don't occur in families with sick children. I know that they do, having had a friend who worked as chaplain in a children's hospital, but there's no indication of those kind of issues being present here, just a difference of opinion between officials and parents. And that's what makes me angry. Not only is our society so pointed towards medical intervention at all costs that the suggestion of choosing to reject that intervention at some stage is seen as foolishness; but our society is also so driven by 'child protection' that it allows so-called experts and strangers to take huge decisions away from parents. This I find an alarming development, and a development that still doesn't seem to be able to protect the most vulnerable children. There is surely a difference between families who need the help and intervention of social services (and I know some wonderful social workers) to protect children obviously at risk and families for whom suffering and circumstances require such difficult decisions to be made.

Perhaps I am oversimplifying what perhaps boils down to where those social services draw the line of appropriate intervention? I'm sure they see families that can't be bothered to get treatment for their children, or families whose religious sensibilities seem completely innappropriate (rejection of blood transfusions for example). Perhaps I'm just outraged because my 'line of intervention' accepts that sometimes we need to be able to live the life we've got left as best we can and with our loved ones - even if we're only 13 years old.

Whatever my opinion, or anyone else's for that matter, my thoughts and my prayers are with Hannah and her family.

Nonsense

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:04:00 +0000

Before I say what I am about to say... I would just like to remind you that in the header of this blog are the words: "random thoughts posted in a tea break". I thought it would be timely to remind you of this statement before I proceed to post what I'm about to post.

I should probably also admit at this pre-posting point that I don't actually, currently have a cup of tea, so it cannot technically be said that I'm on a tea break, but as I'm on a week's holiday, perhaps that could count?

So, now that's all out in the open, I thought I'd just mention that I'm cooking chips and that when they're ready I'm going to pour sweet and sour sauce (the good stuff from the Chinese take-away) all over them.
Yes, that's all I have to say, but I promise that when I've eaten them I'll go and read The Times, that I bought in the Co-op this morning, and therefore try and have something a bit more profound or enlightened to say tomorrow.

The Weird and Wonderful World of Blog Commenting!

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:38:00 +0000

Earlier this evening I wandered to Diamond Geezer's excellent blog and read this post about the changes in the way people tend to read and comment on blogs now (well specifically of course, Diamond Geezer's blog), in comparison to a couple of years ago. (He was reflecting that less people seem to comment on blogs than they used to?). So of course I got there and wanted to post a comment. Now, one of the key factors in blog commenting is having something interesting to say - which I generally don't, but I added my two' pennorth anyway. Job done, all very interesting, so from there I went off and visited another of my favourite blogs (along with Diamond Geezer it's listed in my blog roll). I scrolled back to the last post I'd read there to catch up. As it happens, I'd actually posted a comment on that post when I was there (after a while of humming and haa-ing to decide if I was brave enough what with established commenting community and a lot of people with worthwhile things to say). So then I had a look to see what else had been said - and my comment was gone! Now that again had not been the most riveting of comments - just a brief response to a rather dramatic something said in the post - but vanished it had into the black hole of the web world. And with it vanished my courage to step out in the 'popular' places and speak, and risk being ridiculous (another couple of points raised in response to DG's post).
It's funny how the virtual world can take you back into the real one. I find myself these days in a job that requires a lot of speaking, and much of that in front of big groups of people - but I remember clearly the days when I wouldn't open my mouth, even in a small group, or do anything that drew attention to myself. But as that changed I took small steps forward in finding my voice, but it wouldn't take much in the early days to strip away the courage. And in a funny way this little journey through the comments has reminded me of how far I've come, and how easy it is to lose confidence - virtual world or 'real' one!

Grrrrr

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:00:00 +0000

While I used to love spam fritters when I was at primary school, I don't appreciate the kind of spam that has been appearing every so often in my blog comments! Now I don't get that many comments so when an e-mail appears that says someone's commented I'm rather chuffed - but of the last few comments left, several have been spam - and not the good old fritters!
The one I've just deleted from somewhere back in the depths of the Teapot managed to fit in more links than a gold chain, and there was me thinking only the big blogs with lots of comments were targeted. So for the time being it's comment moderation for my moderate number of comments!

Bad Blogging!

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:09:00 +0000

I haven't posted the same thing on both my blogs before, but having got a bit out of the blogging habit, and being undecided about which blog to post my first-for-a-while random thoughts on, I've gone for both as a kick-start back! So apologies if you've read this somewhere before!

I'm currently on a fortnight's holiday and to-ing and fro-ing about a bit. A good part of the bank holiday weekend was spent in Cromer having a very relaxed time at a friend's flat and enjoying the pace of Norfolk life (until the car journey home when my London-style driving is slightly at odds with the meandering Norfolk kind!).Over the last week I've thought of various things I'd quite like to blog about, but without the motivation to actually blog them... for instance the closure of Walthamstow dog track. I join the distraught crowd who wanted it to stay. I'd been hoping to get there for the last Saturday night but unfortunately couldn't make it. I can't imagine the North Circular without the glow of the Walthamstow Stadium sign... the place is an institution (in the positive sense of the word!). The following information may bring my parenting into disrepute but when TeenSon was little we used to take him in his buggy, along with a bunch of friends, and spend a fun Saturday night in the 'cheap' side of the dogs. Not a huge gambling risk seeing as our bets were of the '50p to win' on, for example, number 4 - dog chosen because its name had some peculiar appeal or tentative link with something or other! And we spent TS's 14th birthday there too - for the first time ever in the 'posh' side. And now it's gone.
And the other thing that caught my attention (rather delayed) this week was the fact that retired athlete Jonathan Edwards has announced himself an atheist. Now I know all this happened sometime last year - but I managed to miss all that and it was only watching a bit of Olympic commentary with TeenSon the other day that I caught up when he said, "he's not a Christian anymore". I was rather disbelieving I have to admit, until I resorted to the trusty Google and read the interviews. I really was rather shocked, Jonathan Edwards having been such a visible and 'public' Christian. I felt quite sad for him as I read that when he'd retired from athletics he'd discovered quite how much of his identity was wrapped up in the sport and when that was gone other aspects of his identity came into question as well - including the Christian aspect. And it all seemed to unravel for him. Of course, I, along with others, can only speculate on his faith as was and as is now, wondering if this was the first ever real questioning and doubting he'd applied to God, life, the world and all. But I felt sad for him and pray that he'll keep exploring and questioning. Was he someone who thought that having God in your life made everything ok? Faith built on the 'rock' trusts God when the storms are blowing all around, but some seem to acquire a faith that thinks God extinguishes all the storms instead of enabling us to stand through them (and him standing with us in them). One blogger commenting at the time referred to the parable of the sower where the seed sown on rocky ground springs up but because its roots don't go deep, it doesn't survive the heat of the sun and is scorched and withers away - equating to a faith that springs up joyfully at first but when trouble or persecution comes the faith also withers away. (Or the seed sown among weeds which is choked by the cares of the world). Perhaps there's something of this in the experience of Jonathan Edwards... or perhaps not - that's between him and the God he's no longer sure of, but I pray that God will reach out and take hold of him once again.
And now I'm off to do more holiday-type things, like read a bit of Cadfael and fall asleep (well I did get back very late last night!).

Rev Gals Friday Five

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:09:00 +0000

It's a long time since I actually joined in with the RevGalBlogPals Friday Five... but here's one for summer (though here where I am today it's grey and drizzly - not completely unheard of for the UK in August!)

1. What is your sweetest summer memory from childhood? Did it involve watermelon or hand cranked ice cream? Or perhaps a teen summer romance. Which stands out for you?
I don't know about 'sweetest' memory - but I can think of a handful of summer memories from childhood (and isn't it hard to work out sometimes if you remember the actual occassion or feel as though you do because you've heard the stories and seen yourself in the photos!).
There was the holiday in Somerset with the visit to Cheddar Gorge (where I am most familiar with the picture of me and my brother standing by a big cliff!) and that's the year, I think, where a vicious swarm of biting ladybirds chased us off the beach!
And I can remember loving a holiday in the Isle of Wight - mainly remembering Blackgang Chine, that my dad said a very naughty word when someone nearly crashed into us at a crossroads and that I loved it there.
Then there was the only holiday I had abroad with my family - in Ibiza - when I was 17. I do recall there being a nice bloke there, but it was also not long before I was diagnosed with Coeliac disease and the symptoms were very problematic - highs and lows!
But most familiar are the many daytrips to the seaside at Walton-on-the-Naze with the occassional stay at the Martello caravan park there too. Lots of memories of the beach, the pier, crabbing, the 'front'... and then later taking TeenSon too for day trips with my dad, from when he was a toddler - very happy memories.

2. Describe your all time favorite piece of summer clothing. The one thing you could put on in the summer that would seem to insure a cooler, more excellent day.
Hmmm... that one's hard for me as I'm more of a winter person. I much prefer winter clothes and could easily give you a list of the snuggly jumpers, big boots and comfy clothes I love in the chillier season. I struggle a bit with what to wear in summer - preferring to keep my legs covered and sticking with jeans even when I get too hot. But I suppose 'comfy' is the key word again so I unglamorously wear baggy t-shirts and baggy, cotton trousers!

3. What summer food fills your mouth with delight and whose flavor stays happily with you long after eaten?
Strawberries and ice-cream spring straight to mind or a nice refreshing ice lolly if it gets really warm (not the chocolatey ones though - the fruity ones!)

4. Tell us about the summer vacation or holiday that holds your dearest memory.
Well, it was actually a winter holiday until we arrived and then it was a summer one! (We left the UK in December = winter and arrived in South Africa where it was their summer!). That was in 2002 when we went to stay with friends and spent Christmas with them in the north of the country. It was wonderful for many reasons: seeing the very dear friends we'd missed so much since they moved away, being in Africa which held a certain magic for me, the long weekend we spent on a game reserve where I saw my beloved elephants up close and in their natural habitat, spending Christmas in shorts and sunshine, being there with people who lived there rather than on the tourist trail and having a feel for day to day life - first on the farm plot where we house-sat for a week or so and then back in the small town where our friends lived. Awesome!

5. Have you had any experience(s) this summer that has drawn you closer to God or perhaps shown you His wonder in a new way?
Not this summer specifically - we're just approaching though the first anniversary of moving to where we live now so the whole year has been full of changes, challenges, blessings and wonderings about what God is doing in my life, in my church... and whether I'm doing alright!
Yesterday evening though, a very involved member of my church, as we left a meeting, said "we're so glad to have you here as our vicar - lots of people think that but they don't say it!" That was a real blessing when I've wondered with God how I've been received here.

Bonus question: When it is really hot, humid and uncomfortable, what do you do to refresh and renew body and spirit?

Cold water or my little face spritz spray; and for the spirit trying to remember to always look to heaven and pray, pray, pray!

Well, it was good to look back... but I can also look forward as in just over a week I've got my two weeks off. Though I probably won't go away I'm looking forward to the rest and refreshment.

Almost a year in...

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:48:00 +0000

It is fast approaching one year since we moved here - new home, new parish, new church, new people, new college for TeenSon... I can't quite believe how time's flown by actually, it's been a bit of a whirl in some senses and as I think back it's hard to remember what my hopes and expectations were for this first year? I suspect they weren't actually that richly defined, but along the lines of 'get to know the people[in my church and beyond], walk alongside them with God, see how things work here, pray quite a lot and see what God seems to want'? I don't have one of those tales of supersonic-church-growth or doubled income (though who knows what time and God will bring here?) but I do have a love of these people I share a lot of life and ministry with. And for me that's one of the joys of ministry - I enjoy less the pressure of producing measurable results - some (pressures) that come from beyond me and some from within. 'For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven... a time to sow and a time to reap.' (Ecclesiastes 3) This I don't have trouble believing, but fending off the niggling doubt that I won't create anything reapable as well as trying to convince others to be patient is another story!
God can do great things, I just hope he'll do them in us, and that I won't get in the way! It's all too easy to find the discouragements under every stone when the real challenge is keeping eyes fixed on God and trusting him.

Exeter Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:27:00 +0000

I have never been to Exeter but to slightly compensate for that character flaw I'm posting a link to Neil's new blog.... HERE .... brought to you - surprise surprise - from Exeter! I haven't been down to that neck of the British woods for a long time and am trying to remember how near I've ever managed to get to Exeter... hang on, I have a handy map here somewhere.... Ah, it would have to be Minehead I reckon, followed by bits of Cornwall! Still at least if I do get down there I'll now know which pubs to go to and which street to particularly look where I'm walking!

Teapot Ramblings

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:17:00 +0000

Well on this Sunday evening here I am wandering back to the dear old Teapot. For those of you who come here through some totally unconnected-to-church-and-Christian-things route then be assured that I am fully intending to post something other than sermons... most often in the past it has proved to be something not quite so eternally significant (not that my sermons are eternally significant, but hopefully the God they point to!) - like the London train system, Cadfael books and VW Camper Vans (what a bizarre collection of interests I have!). But your patience is appreciated when on a Saturday night I hang around here with the RevGals, going through what-I'm-offering-tomorrow-angst and hoping that someone will come and post glowing encouragements about what I'm planning to hit my congregation with the next morning! Of course this is the real world and it doesn't work that way - for one thing I suspect God's been trying to teach me for many years to depend on him for encouragement and look to him for confidence - but I'm better at being convinced of his worth than mine in his service. Isn't it funny how you can have such a desire to get across to the wonderful bunch of people that meet with you Sunday by Sunday as church, that THEY are of such value and worth to God, that he loves them and can see all they are and all they can be - but at the same time you can feel completely inadequate to the task because you all too easily forget it yourself! Now if only God had managed to find the blogspot comments box and pop in... Anyway, perhaps while this is resembling something more like a mini sermon and before I move back to trains or other momentous topics I will just add at least that I hope (and pray) that when I tell them of this love and worth and value that they hear it because I'm privileged to serve such wonderful people who deserve to really know this deep down and with all of their being!
It's quite good actually to stop on one of the rollercoaster days when the coaster is dipping downwards and discouragements outweigh perceived achievements, when the music was a bit stodgy and the numbers were low and the sermon seemed dull... that Jesus was still in it!
"The Lord is here!" "His Spirit is with us!" how amazing was that... and not being a mind reader I now have to leave it all with God and pray that he'll stick close to his people (sometimes through me or others) and keep hold of them as they journey on through the week.

Now, as for those trains....

Oh Yes, it's another Saturday Night Sermon!

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:11:00 +0000

Late addition... this is without the Sunday morning amendments and tweaks which turned the sermon into something resembling one that would make your 'hearts burn within you' (as some disciples said on a famous road as Jesus opened the Scriptures to them!) - oh what, this isn't a dream...

Sermon - 29.6.08 – Acts 12: 1-11 & Matthew 16: 13-19

I’d like to continue that theme of prayer for a bit longer…

Recently I’ve been reading again from Ezra and Nehemiah – two books in the Old Testament - and Nehemiah is a wonderful example of a man of prayer. In Ezra and Nehemiah we find the people of God returning to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. The Temple was the place of worship and sacrifice for the Jewish people, as well as the place where it was believed God had his dwelling on earth – where heaven and earth meet. (As they certainly did in Jerusalem when Jesus was there!).
In Ezra the people return from exile to rebuild the Temple, and in Nehemiah we find this man of God calling out to the Lord because the walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed leaving it unprotected and bringing shame on God’s people. He prays from his heart to God for Jerusalem and for the opportunity to be allowed to leave his job as the king’s cupbearer for a time and go back to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. And he also prays what we sometimes call ‘arrow’ prayers – shooting up a spontaneous prayer to God as he speaks to the king and seeks his goodwill.

And the thing that struck me afresh as I read Nehemiah was regarding how he expressed what God had lead him to do. In chapter 2 we hear Nehemiah’s words: “I had not told anyone what my God had put on my heart to do for Jerusalem.” He had a definite sense that God had put it on his heart to do this thing; and you see, God does that – he did it then and he still does it today. He lays on the hearts of his people an urge to do something for him, a particular need, a particular place, a particular task – and then we respond. That response needs to come first as prayer. Just as Nehemiah turned first to prayer – speaking back to God that new desire of his heart. Often it takes a long time for that thing to actually come into being, but our task is to walk with that burden, keep praying and listening and responding at the right time. And of course it’s as we pray earnestly that we learn to discern something that God has lain on our hearts from our own rush of ideas. And if you’re sitting here this morning thinking, “well that wouldn’t be me… I’m not knowledgeable enough, or good enough, or holy enough, or loving enough, or spiritual enough…” then think again, because God makes us all those things, not ourselves, and he can and does speak to any and all of his people.

You may remember back to the recent visit we had of V and S from the orphanage in India? V spoke of how that ministry was started and it began with his father seeing two children rummaging around in a dustbin for food, and from that sight God laid on his heart the desire to do something. And from that beginning, over much time, with much prayer, much generosity and much effort the expanding ministry of that place came about. God laid it on V’s father’s heart and from there he prayed. I expect many of those early prayers were something like, “what do I do Lord?”

Of course, one of the roles of your vicar is to be praying and asking God what he wants us to do and be in this place, and I'm committed to seeking God for these things. But often God puts somrthing on YOUR heart – sometimes about something he specifically wants you to do – sometimes in the church but not always – perhaps in your neighbourhood, perhaps in your place of work, perhaps in your lifestyle, and sometimes it’s about something for the church to pray into being. And that’s what I’m here for too – to talk with you, pray with you and discern with you what is from God.

Don’t be discouraged if the first response of the vicar to your suggestions is ‘go and pray earnestly for a time about that – as will I’ because first we need to patiently wait on God and we also need to be humble to test what we sense is from God. And also, we need to consider prayerfully the resources – people, time and money, to do what we hope for and dream of. We can come up with many of our own ideas and if we try and bring them all into being ourselves we’ll probably expend much time and energy, but not necessarily in the most kingdom affirming ways. So when a burden is laid on our hearts from God, He will provide all that’s needed – and most often he’ll expect us to be a big part of the provision. Does he want you to be involved with making it happen? Does he want you to give generously towards it, does he want you to keep praying for it? If we want to really be a church that lives out the things we’ve affirmed as our purpose: to worship God, to lead people to Christ, to grow in our faith, to build a loving Christian community and to serve a world in need, then we each need to make that happen with our time, our commitment, our money, our prayers, ourselves offered to God. It can be a challenging lifestyle but there’s none better as we live out this life of love and faith, following Christ as Lord!

What wonderful examples we have before us of the people of God through the ages and how God interacted with them. We’ve revisited Nehemiah, and today is the day in the church when we particularly remember Peter and Paul and we can take hope and inspiration from seeing how their lives of faith worked out and what God did in and through them. We have the privilege of seeing the whole story –
watching Paul change from murderer of the Christians to making Christ known as a great missionary and church planter, and watching Peter turn from the bumbling fisherman who was always getting things wrong (just read through one of the gospels again with it in mind to revisit the Jesus and Peter story!), to becoming the leader of God’s church, the one who stood up and spoke on the day of Pentecost – the one whom Jesus called ‘the rock on whom I will build my church.’ And Peter (as we also heard in our gospel reading) was the first to affirm the truth of who Jesus is – recognising him not only as a good teacher or as one of the prophets of old, but as the Messiah – the anointed one from God who would usher in God’s kingdom. Even so, and even having declared, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” he probably didn’t have the whole picture at that stage – it was only after the resurrection that the followers fully realised all that Jesus had been telling them about himself – but Peter did know that Jesus was ‘the One’, the one whom God said was coming!

Let’s be re-inspired today as we look at what God has done and promises still to do. Let’s be a people who take prayer seriously just as the early church did when they prayed earnestly for Peter’s release from prison, and just as Nehemiah did when God laid that burden for Jerusalem on his heart.
Let’s rediscover the way God changed Peter and enabled him to do amazing things for him by revisiting those accounts in the gospels and trusting that God can also take us on an amazing voyage of discovery, faith and service.
Let’s be a people ready to respond with patience, prayer and then action when God lays his burdens for a needy world on our hearts.
Even here in (N) – within these walls and many more outside are young people who need the security and guidance of the Lord God in their lives, are people who are lonely, or sick or bereaved or broken-hearted, are many elderly folk with no-one to look after them, or just chat to, or sort out their garden, or drive them to the hospital, are people who are worried sick about debt or bound up in a spend, spend, spend culture, are people who carry burdens of deep shame and horrendous self image because they don’t know that God loves them and offers forgiveness and cleansing through the shed blood of Christ.

These are the things God wants us to care about as he cares, and to pray earnestly about – saying, “Here am I, send me!” Or if you can’t yet pray that prayer, then pray, “Lord, help me to want to pray that prayer and be willing for you to send me.”

Let's pray...

"Let the children come to me and do not hinder them."

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:57:00 +0000

29.6.08 – Children’s Talk – Acts 12: 1-11

Sign for each person involved as the story unfolds…

Let’s see (again) what was happening in that Bible story…

Peter had been arrested for being one of Jesus’ followers [we have a lot to say thank you to God for here, because we are safe and free to follow Jesus and talk about him]

But Peter was put in prison by Herod.

There were 4 squads of 4 soldiers guarding Peter (16 soldiers one sign – 4 watches) and Peter was bound with two chains. Herod wasn’t leaving anything to chance!

The next day (after the Jewish festival) Herod was going to deal with Peter – he was in great danger.
But while Peter was asleep an angel appeared (angels are God’s messengers).

The angel got Peter ready to leave: “fasten your belt, put on your sandals, wrap your cloak around you, follow me.”

Peter thought he was seeing things or dreaming it but when the angel got him away and left, Peter realised the Lord had rescued him!

Now, did you notice what was happening somewhere else while all that was going on?

While Peter was arrested and in prison the church (give out notes to all: Part of the praying church) was PRAYING EARNESTLY FOR HIM (‘earnestly’ means very seriously, they prayed hard!).

See the amazing thing is that though God is mighty and powerful he uses the prayers of his people alongside him to get things done. Like this time – the church was praying and Peter was rescued by God – and when he turned up at the house where they were, the Christians didn’t believe it could really be him – even though that’s what they were praying for!

Sometimes it’s hard to pray and we wonder why God sometimes seems to answer and sometimes doesn’t. Those early Christians had the same problem. Not long before, James had also been taken by Herod, and he was killed – surely the church was praying for him too? Our lesson is to learn to trust God whether he seems to say YES or NO or WAIT. And to make sure we keep on praying so God can do amazing things through us too. All of you are important because you can be God’s pray-ers. You just need to start by talking to God and asking him to help where people need help. We pray a lot of prayers together in church so every time we’re altogether listen to how we pray and learn to pray too. And each prayer is everybody’s not just the person saying it because when we say ‘Amen’ it means ‘let it be so’ – we agree!

Changing Trains

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 21:13:00 +0000

Towards the end of last summer we moved house. And along with the house move came the church and work and school to college moves. Obviously these are significant changes and for a while we were homesick, but now where we are feels like home and the people here are our familiar friends. But it wasn't just these obvious changes that caused a wrench - I also went into mourning for the passing of Liverpool Street Station!
Those of you who've been hanging around this Teapot for long enough may recall me talking a couple of years ago (3rd June 2006), with great affection for Liverpool Street station:

"Well, I'll begin with a confession... I love Liverpool Street Station! I have lived all my life somewhere or other on the Liverpool Street line - and am currently the furthest south on the line that I've been (the farthest away being when we lived in Cambridge for a couple of years)."

So when it came to moving to the Fenchurch Street line - well - I really couldn't get to grips with that for a while! I'd come to know 'my' station like the back of my hand, I had my favourite place to sit and watch the world go by and had an affection for the little bit of London in which it sat. I had my familiar tube routes in and out - and then it all changed. As it happens Fenchurch Street is only 5 minutes on foot from Liverpool Street so nestled fairly close by in the city. It can nowhere near compare in architectral appeal or bustle, and no tube station - well really! Those were a few of my first thoughts, and they remain, but now of course we're used to wandering round the corner to Tower Hill for the Underground, it's nice not to have to pay 20 pennies to spend a penny or fight the crowds to get to the few platforms. And the surrounding streets soon become familiar, I've even got a replacement favoured coffee shop for that world-going-by-view. And then there's the South Bank which I had given hardly a passing thought to in that previous life. Isn't it funny that in London a station only 5 minutes away can seem like another world? But it is becoming a part of my world, and I'm rather fond of it. The plain little Fenchurch Street station will never replace Liverpool Street in my affections... but I'm managing to create a whole realm of new ones!

Not a Miserable Park Keeper!

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 20:46:00 +0000

Well, so much for promising some trivialities about my twin joys of tea and Camper Vans... here's another sermon!
It's my offering for tomorrow which is an all-age baptism service where the guests will probably outnumber the regular congregation. It's turned into 'not a children's talk' but I am planning to have some print-outs of feet with space for a name and 'follow me' for the younger children to be filling in... or something like that! Anyway, here it is (comments gratefully received):

Sunday 8th June 2008 – ‘Follow Me!’
Matthew 9: 9-13, 18-26

I’m reading a book at the moment called, ‘Fat, 40 & Fired’ by an Englishman in Australia called Nigel Marsh, who, as the title suggests has turned forty, put on a bit of weight and been made redundant but he calls the resulting year, ‘The year I lost my job and found my life.’
He goes on an intriguing journey of challenging himself and rediscovering the things he most loves in life – not least his wife and four children. Of all the bits of the book I could quote to you this morning it’s a few lines that come up as he speaks of their new home city of Sydney that I want to read you:

“The love affair started on our very first visit to the country, when we came to look for a house before my job started. We were walking in the Botanical Gardens behind the Opera House when we came across a sign: ‘Please do walk on the grass’. I did a double-take and looked closer. Sure enough, the council had erected a sign saying, ‘Please do walk on the grass’. Underneath, in smaller letters, the writing continued: ‘And talk to the plants and hug the trees. It’s your park, it’s here for you to enjoy. Have fun.’ I was stunned and have never really been the same since.”[1]

And as I read that I thought – ‘that’s how God wants us to see the world’ – walking on the grass, enjoying what’s out there, living life to the full, as Jesus put it. But how often when God, or perhaps even more – his church is mentioned in the media is it more likely to be as a miserable old park keeper, chasing the children away from where they’re having fun; rather than the one that says, ‘walk on the grass, enjoy the plants and the trees, I made them’?

If you haven’t yet realised it, then understand today, that God isn’t the miserable old park keeper, but the source of all that brings deep satisfaction and delight in this life – the one who put all that beauty out there for us. Yes, of course, he has given us some guidelines and boundaries that enable us to live alongside one another in safety and respect and most of all love. We’re well aware of the need to give our children guidelines and boundaries, it’s the job of any responsible parent, so why not God? To take the picture another step on – no-one could enjoy the park if a few came along having a chain saw party and cut all the trees down because that’s what they really felt like doing, or even if they shouted from the rooftops that it was their right!

And in both of our Bible readings today there’s a call from this God to us. In the Old Testament reading from Hosea the call is: ‘Come, let us return to the Lord; he will heal us, he will bind us up, he will revive us, he will raise us up to live before him.’ Because ultimately, God – the Lord – wants us to walk through life with him and on into eternal life – what we call heaven. He wants you to walk through life with him, understanding him to be the one who heals you, binds up your wounds, revives you and raises you to be with him. But there are really hard words intermingled there too. These were addressed to the people who had experienced God’s presence and special blessing but who had turned away from him, had done evil and as a result had experienced what’s spoken of too – being torn and struck down. Sometimes only hardship causes us stubborn humans to turn back to God and cry out to him. All the way through the Old Testament there are examples of the people turning away from God and living evil lives opposed to how God has called them to live. (And his rules aren’t there to spoil our fun, but to ensure it doesn’t get perverted – and they’re summarised as ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and love your neighbour as yourself’. How we treat each other and how we treat God, really matters.)

But in those times of hardship, when the people cry out to God he responds according to his nature and character – not as the miserable old park keeper but as the one who heals, binds up, revives and restores.

That’s what God’s like.
And what he’s like has been made even clearer for us in the life and death of Jesus; because Jesus is what we call ‘God incarnate’ – God having taken on human form to live among us and ultimately to die in our place so that we can go through death into life – and that life’s the unspoilt one, the unseparated from God one.

And so, having heard that call in the Old Testament, ‘Come, let us return to the Lord’; we now go to our second reading from the New Testament to hear Jesus’s words: ‘Follow me.’

‘Come let us return to the Lord’ and ‘Follow me’; is that what God is saying to you today, whether you’re as young as (N) being baptised this morning or as old as… some of the old vicars on that board?!

Jesus said those words, ‘follow me’ to Matthew who was certainly not an approved follower or dinner guest for Jesus to hang around with according to the religious people of the day.

But that’s the point, Jesus came to call all us ‘sinners’ all us who mess things up and need a new start to follow him. The church is full of people who’ve heard that welcome invitation and responded to it, not full of people who are so good in their own right that they have no need of God – far from it!

So Jesus was God on earth who we often call ‘the Son’, then dead on a cross, then alive again through the power of God and seated with him in heaven; is also by the same nature the one who heals us, binds up our wounds, revives us and raises us up. We saw a couple of examples of just that further on in the gospel reading where Jesus restored to life the daughter of the leader of the Synagogue and healed the woman who reached out to him and touched his cloak.

‘Follow me’ – two simple little words, but what do they mean – what do they require of us?

Well, in any game of ‘follow-the-leader’ the followers need to do the same as the leader, and in the church we follow-the-leader. The call is to be like Jesus and to reflect his compassion, his service, his life that ignored the social conventions to hang around with the ‘right kind of people’ but instead spend time with the ones who needed him.

It means that in our lives he is Lord, he is king, he is the boss and we offer ourselves so that we become people who get involved and heal, bind up and revive in God’s name.
It means offering him all we are, getting involved and being willing to share what we’ve been given – our time, our energy, our talents, our money – not just living for ourselves, but for others. In this church we do that by supporting projects overseas such as the Ebenezer Children’s Home in India and Mother Mercy (Orphanage) in Kenya; by being on the BarNBus team on Wednesday nights that’s in the car park for the teenagers of our community; by caring and praying for one another; by trying to make God’s love known in the way we act and speak wherever we are through the week; by looking out for the weak and vulnerable in our community; by giving to the work of the church – the more we give the more we can make a difference; by working with the children both in and out of the church in the children’s group and youth group and holiday club. There's even the potential for such things as local sports teams, hosting debt counsellors, serving in the community forums, standing up for the voiceless and challenging prejudice if we start to get creative. The more we are willing to follow and offer ourselves the more we can do for the people God has placed us among. The next ‘in Touch’ will be out very soon which will contain more ideas for getting involved.

And even when we decide we want to live this life we still get it wrong and we still need help – and God gives it – what he calls us to do he enables us to do because when we do set off following him he gives us a gift; and that gift is his Holy Spirit – God living in our hearts helping us to be Christ-like and do the things he did.

In the baptism in a few minutes we’ll be praying for (N) and his parents and godparents as they make promises on his behalf to help him grow up as a follower of Jesus. And one of the things we do is to give (N) a lighted candle that represents the light of Jesus in the world. And as we do that we say ‘shine as a light in the world, to the glory of God the Father.’ That’s what it means to respond to the call ‘follow me’, both for (N) as he grows up, and for all of us – to shine as a Christ-light in the world.
Think seriously about how you answer that call today.

You may be here as a visitor today having never heard that call before; you may be here having been a churchgoer for many years but have never responded ‘yes’ to that call; you may have been a faithful, following Christian a long time who’s being challenged to think afresh about what you offer back to God; you may be a young person who’s grown up in the church but has never said ‘ok Lord’ for yourself?

Jesus says ‘follow me’ – we each have to decide how to respond and whether we’re going to ‘walk on the grass’ and live life to the full!

Amen.

[1] Nigel Marsh, 'Fat, 40 & Fired', p76 (Piatkus Books Ltd 2006)

Spirit... Blow those cobwebs away!

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Sat, 10 May 2008 17:25:00 +0000

While I am very hopeful to get some more ramble about cups of tea, VW Camper Vans, my cat and other daily life trivialities on this 'Teapot', today you get another 'sermon'! It's actually my Pentecost talk for tomorrow, and is an attempt to address all ages in church with the great news of Jesus Christ with us all, all the time, through the Holy Spirit...

And by the way, I added some personal testimony just after the Tom Wright quote... but I won't bother to add that here... unless it's specifically requested ;)

Oh, and another little aside... when I actually preached it and we reached the 'creating the sound of the rushing wind' bit - it was rather amusing as half the 'whistlers' sounded like they were wolf whistling and a couple of the 'blowing through your hands' people blew raspberries - not quite, I suspect, what the original day of Pentecost would have sounded like!

Sunday 11.5.08 – Pentecost (All age)

There was once a glove. It was quite a nice glove really. It had everything a glove needs – a thumb, fingers, a hole in one end… but there was something missing, because this glove was empty, it had no hand! The glove was still a glove, but it had been made to be moulded by a hand and it felt rather useless and purposeless without one! And then one day along came a hand and it filled the glove. It gave the glove movement and brought it to life. It enabled the glove to be what it was made to be – it gave it purpose and usefulness – it filled it!
And as Christians we’re a bit like that glove. We need the Holy Spirit to come and fill us, like the hand filled the glove. Without the filling of the Holy Spirit we’re a bit like a glove with no hand – empty, powerless and lacking energy. But like the glove, when we’re full, we’re full of movement and life, usefulness, power and purpose.
And that’s what today’s about – looking back at when the Holy Spirit first came and filled God’s people. AND it’s about asking him to fill us with his power and purpose and LIFE – just as he did with those first apostles.
And do you know, God does it in all kinds of ways! On that Pentecost day, long ago, when the people were all gathered together for what was a bit like the Harvest Festival – God’s Spirit came and filled them. And it was dramatic!
Did you notice what Luke, who wrote it all down said it was LIKE? He said it was LIKE the rush of a violent wind. Think for a moment how that might have felt and how it would have sounded as that rushing wind of God’s Spirit came rushing through the room where they were…
What do you think they felt? Fear, excitement. wonder perhaps?
I wonder if we can create something like the sound of a rushing wind…
One group – “whoosh” getting louder
One group – rising and falling whistling noise
One group – blowing loudly between hands
And they wouldn’t have only heard that noise, they would have felt it too.

And then Luke tells us, it was like tongues of fire – have you seen a fire when the individual flames, like tongues, lick upwards (wave your tongues of fire) and then the tongues of fire rested on them (rest the flames on your head).
They didn’t get their hair set alight because it was a spiritual event that gave very physical impressions which enabled those apostles to describe what they experienced.
We can’t properly recreate that event, but we can imagine the drama of it AND we can see what happened as a result of it… they were all filled with the Spirit and they started to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.

It wasn’t just God’s party trick.
He did it for a reason – so that the people of many nations would hear his message in their own language (I know that some people would appreciate that happening here sometimes!). And once God had got their attention, Peter stood up and explained it all to them – especially that God would pour out his Spirit on all people – men and women, young and old.

But you know, when the Spirit’s present, it’s not always dramatic like that. Sometimes, instead, it’s LIKE a gentle dove (hold up your doves). Remember when Jesus was baptised and the Spirit came and rested on him LIKE a dove. Gentle!
Or it’s like a still, small voice – that’s how the prophet Elijah experienced the Spirit of God – Quiet! (All whisper “Shhh”.)

What we need to remember is that FIRST - ALL these ways of experiencing the presence of God’s Spirit are as valuable and effective as each other – we’re all different and God works in all kinds of mysterious ways his wonders to perform – as we often sing here!
The important thing is that we appreciate the diversity of experience. There are those who will experience God’s Spirit dramatically – a reminder of how powerful and life-transforming God can be.
And there are those who experience God’s Spirit in a quiet, steady, almost unnoticeable way. Delight in what God is doing around you, as well as in you, without envy of what he’s doing in someone else!

And SECOND, remember that God longs to give the Spirit to ALL people, if we will just ask.
In Luke’s gospel, chapter 11, verse 13, Jesus says, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Remember the before-getting-out-of-bed prayer of my old vicar I told some of you about last week…? “Morning Lord, please fill me with your Holy Spirit again today.” Let’s remember that prayer and keep praying it, at all times and in all places!

Why is all this so important then? Hear the words of Bishop Tom Wright [1] on the matter…“What the Spirit will do when he comes is anybody’s guess. Be prepared for wind and fire, for some fairly drastic spring-cleaning of the dusty and cold rooms of your life. We should not doubt that God will give his Spirit to all who seek him, and that the form and direction that any particular Spirit-led life will take will be (assuming obedience and faith) the one that will enable that person, in their own way, to bring glory to God.”
Just as the glove needed the hand to fill it, so we need the Spirit to fill us, so that ultimately we’ll come to a much deeper knowledge of God, of his love for us and his purposes in our lives, and so that Jesus will be seen in, and made known through, us.
Amen.

[1] Tom Wright - Acts for Everyone, Part 1. Page 24/25

Revisiting...

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:38:00 +0000

I found this, started a couple of weeks ago, sitting on the 'edit' pile of the Teapot - waiting for something to happen!:

There are some days when I love being a priest; when it feels like I'm doing the thing I was created to do; when both the 'duty and the joy' are a privilege. But on other days I ponder towards God, "what on earth were you thinking when you nudged me in this direction?" You see, I'm not a very dynamic sort of person, I don't have great plans and big ideas (in fact I'm a detail person for whom the 'big picture' often seems discouraging and daunting!). Now despite all that, I do know that God has given me gifts and talents, but some days I just don't want the responsibility.

And then I carried on with some specifics which I've deleted, but which indicate what a balancing act so many aspects of life (and here, ministry) are. The need for something tangible to assess held against the fact that so much pastoring/shepherding happens behind closed doors - in secret - those private conversations that may make a difference to someone but don't necessarily put more 'bums on seats' or pounds in the koffers. The fact that God at work in a particular place may be small scale, held against the fact that when he's at work the church grows? That dilemma of whether to look for human success criteria, or wait for the 'well done good and faithful servant' - assuming here that they're not the same.

It's interesting to read the biographies of Christians whose lives have had significance and an impact on the church in some way - and forget all the challenges which are skimmed over in two paragraphs on page 82. And to wonder, "what does God want to do through me?" And then you look at a bunch of His people in the Bible and see that they made a hash of things - but God still used them. 'Success' through plans and 'doing it right' or success by sticking it out and trusting that God will do it!
See-saws all the way, but I know which side I prefer!

Sunday thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 23:51:00 +0000

John 4: 5-30, 42
The woman at the well: Living water

The value of water

A few years ago, sometime in the late 90’s, I took my then youth group to Soul Survivor – a Christian Bible and worship week that took place down in Somerset. It was the kind of week you camped at and they would set up in various fields taps for drinking and washing water and toilets – for obvious reasons!

If you imagine the site with the huge meeting tents in the middle, then the campsite areas radiated out. And this particular year me and the group were camped on one of the furthest fields. It also happened that this particular year there was something of a heatwave (I know that some of you who originate from Africa might be slightly cynical about the likelihood of an English heatwave, but it does happen once in a blue moon!).

And it also happened that this particular year the organisers were having a bit of trouble with the water supply system, so it came about that those of us camped furthest away found ourselves very warm, very thirsty and with a trickle or no water for a good deal of the week. Now I don’t even remotely pretend that this could compare in any way with situations around the world where people are struggling to find a clean water supply and have to walk miles and miles to find any water at all – but it did make me stop and think and appreciate the luxury we enjoy here of turning on a tap and having an abundant supply of fresh, clean, water – and if we go away having done nothing else this morning, let’s praise and thank God for this and pray for those who are without such riches. But actually, I know that there is even more for which we can thank God this morning…

The need for water in any place, not least in a hot place, is essential for life and in this morning’s Gospel reading we find Jesus sitting by a well, resting wearily from his journey and thirsty for water to drink. The well by which Jesus sat was the well that, we read in Genesis, Jacob – son of Isaac, son of Abraham – had found in Samaria and which had been named after him. Now here we are, hundreds of years later, with Jesus sitting by this same well.

The unusual nature of the conversation

A Samaritan woman comes to the well to draw water and Jesus asks her for a drink. That must have proved quite a shock for the woman for a number of reasons.
1) She was a Samaritan. A Jew would not usually have spoken to a Samaritan – Samaritans were considered outsiders and second class citizens, at least in religious terms, by Jews.
2) She was a woman. A Jewish man would not have spoken to a lone, unchaperoned woman.
3) She was of disreputable character – having had five husbands and now the man she lived with was not her husband!

On all three counts Jesus breaks the usual conventions and expectations and treats her with respect – and that’s something to take notice of. How often Jesus was accused of meeting with and eating with sinners and outsiders, the unclean and unacceptable. Is that an accusation that can be thrown at his church too?

The request is turned around

So, he’s asked her for a drink of water, and she’s well aware of the unlikelihood of Jesus speaking to her – Samaritan, woman, adulterer! But Jesus then turns the question around, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “give me a drink” you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

She still thinks Jesus is talking about ordinary, physical water and asks him where she can get ‘this living water’. But Jesus is talking about something more awesome, something that is a spring of water gushing up to eternal life, something which quenches the thirst for God and brings life. Just as physical water is essential to keep us alive, so this living water is essential for eternal life and abundant life with God. And this living water is the Holy Spirit, the gift of God that will be poured out.

The surprising response from Jesus – sin addressed

Jesus often seems to give unlikely responses to the things people say to him and ask him about… and this situation is no exception. The woman has asked where she can find this living water so Jesus says, ‘go and call your husband and come back.’ Eh!

“I don’t have a husband” comes the response. “No” says Jesus, “you’re right – you’ve had five husbands and the man you have now is not your husband!”

He knows her, he knows all about her, before she finds this living water the sinful parts of her lifestyle are out in the open BEFORE JESUS.

He hasn’t shouted her sin from the rooftops, it’s still just the two of them speaking and it’s only the woman who a bit later goes off, saying “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did!”

We know that bringing sin into the light is healthy for our spiritual lives, so we can receive from God all that he has for us - so we repent of our sin (that is actually turn away from it), we confess it and receive God’s forgiveness.
It’s as we read in 1 John: “when we confess our sins God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and CLEANSE US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.”

True worshippers

So, Jesus has demonstrated himself to be someone special – a man of God – and so the woman changes the subject to places of worship. The Samaritans worshipped God on the mountain, the Jews worshipped God in the Temple in Jerusalem but Jesus tells her that the time is coming when the true worshippers will not worship in one specific place, but they’ll worship in Spirit and in truth.

That’s us! That time has come, we are those worshippers who through the gift of the Holy Spirit can worship God in truth, can worship God anywhere and everywhere. The gift of God has already been poured out for us; God with us; God in us; the Spirit of God here in this place. And don’t we remember and acknowledge that as we go through this time of worship together: at the peace we’re reminded that Jesus said, ‘where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’ At the beginning of the Eucharistic prayer don’t we proclaim, “the Lord is here, his Spirit is with us!” Because that’s truth, and we worship in Spirit and in truth. God is with us – isn’t it right then that we turn away from our sin and confess it because we’re in the presence of the holy God.

The gift of God – the living water

This is the living water that Jesus was speaking of, this is the water that gushes up to eternal life, this is the gift of God that Jesus promised his people, this is the amazing discovery we have made in Jesus, this is what we have to offer and to share with the world out there, this is the life-giving presence of God who comforts us in our sufferings, who heals us or strengthens us in our sicknesses, who gives us the hope to endure (just as Paul was saying in that letter to the Romans), who opens the door to eternal life with God. People need the living water that Jesus promised.

Have you drunk of the living water?

Today I hope that every one of us in here has drunk of this living water – but if you haven’t, then will you today? Will you say to God today, the words of that last verse in the gospel reading… “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’ You can change the ‘we’ to ‘I’ and come and drink of the water that gushes up to eternal life.

The invitation: Come and See

And finally, what did the Samaritan woman do after she’d found this living water?

She went out to the people and said ‘Come and see…’

She had a testimony straight away… “come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done!” That’s what Jesus did for her.

What will happen if we do the same, “come and see…”
Come and see the one who helped me in my grief
Come and see the one who placed me in a family when I was lonely
Come and see the one who heard my prayer and gave me strength
Come and see the one who healed me
Come and see the one who gives us joy even in suffering
Come and see the one who loves the poor and the outsider

There’s so much for the people out there to come and see, because Jesus is God, the source of life, his Spirit the living water. And it only takes a little courage, and even that the Spirit can help us with! to do what Peter bid us do… “always have an answer prepared to give the reason for the hope that you have.” Or – “come and see.”

Let’s take a few moments of quiet before God as we give ourselves space to respond to him, perhaps as you silently say that last verse to him; perhaps as you ask him to remind you of what he has done for you, and just so we can ask him to pour out once again this gift of living water.

Amen.

Life to the full

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 11:42:00 +0000

Back in November I started a thread on the Ship of Fools discussion boards about what Jesus meant when he said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." A few days ago I added this, which I've posted here, on my own little Teapot webspace, because as I've reflected on it, I've found that these things give me a helpful framework and reminder of what is important, and I thought I'd keep them where they can be an easy reminder of what I'm aiming for:

"I was walking down the street the other day and I passed a family* and as I looked at them this whole discussion came back to my mind. There was something in their appearance and expressions that seemed hollow and though I of course don't know their circumstances at all, it prompted me to imagine. (Imagine both the hollowness of some lives - though maybe not theirs - and the things that might bring the fullness we've been talking about). So, thinking of such a family, as well as the things that I feel make life satisfying, and what we've come up with already here's my suggestions for what might bring about "fullness of life"...
People - to love, spend time with, care for and be loved by (unloneliness!)
Food - sufficient to fuel our bodies as well as to enjoy in itself as we enjoy the tastes of the fruits of the earth and the fellowship that's possible as we eat with others (Jesus seemed to do plenty of fellowshipping and educating over meals).
And shelter.
Love - overlaps with the people aspect of course, but that deep sense of being loved and accepted, by God and by others.
Beauty - Opportunity to enjoy beauty, whether that's the beauty of a sunset or mountainrange or perfect plan of a new bridge, or a painting (each to their own!). Eyes open to creativity.
Creativity - opportunties to be creative, whether in the arts or building, work or play, growing things, learning, or in messy stuff with children, or parenting, or writing, or making practical things (each to their own again).
Achievement - that feeling of a sense of achievement at tiny or huge things, in work and free-time. Close links between creativity, achievement and contribution?
Fun - times for light-heartedness, companionship, games, sport... just fun!
Contribution - sense of purpose and not living in an isolated bubble.
God - the purpose, acceptance, hope, forgiveness... that comes from being in the relationship with God that (speaking as a Christian) I believe we were made for.
I suppose as I look at that list it gives me a sense of how to be truly human. And I think essentially that fullness of life comes from not only experiencing these things but essentially for being unselfish in enabling others to experience them.
All that from walking past a family on the way home and hoping for them!

*a man, a woman, a child in a buggy and two young children walking with them; appearing worn out, perhaps with low income and no employment, perhaps a difficult relationship... of course these things are imagined as I thought about any family for whom these were the circumstances and what would bring them fullness of life."

Another Year On...

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 12:32:00 +0000

I thought it would be interesting (for me if not anyone else) to look back at the first posts of 2007 on my blogs and see what I was thinking and resolving at the start of the year just ended. And I have to say, I did find it interesting! Over at 'Chelley of the Shire' which even in its name points to one of the big changes of 2007 - seeing as I'm not now living in the Shire to which that referred - I was turning over a phrase in my mind. And actually this phrase has stayed with me through the year as something of a (hoped for) summary of my Christian life: "to live with reference to God; that is, God made known in the person of Jesus Christ." More of that here.
And here at the Teapot it seems I had been reading '84 Charing Cross Road' by Helene Hanff and had resolved to be an improved letter writer in 2007 - something I'm afraid I have rather failed at... at least resolutions can be carried over!
But strangely enough as we begin this new year I am again reading a book by Helene Hanff: 'Apple of my eye' - a book about New York, by a New Yorker; and very interesting I'm finding it too. I picked up this book in a little secondhand bookshop in Cromer during the half term break and have only just got round to reading it. And perhaps this book too points to one of my resolutions - to go on a voyage of discovery! I'm enjoying finding out interesting bits about NY - not least because I love detail, maps, history and studying people (though the book hasn't provided me with the maps, I had to use the net for those). I think I'll be attempting to read (and write) more, to delve into the diverse range of books I have tucked away that have been bought with delight but sadly neglected... books on medieval history, on poetry, collections of letters, crime fiction, maps... and so the list goes on.
I still seem to hold onto the dreams of being the person I see in my mind's eye - hopefully a not too unrealistic dream, with God's help? And yet at the end of each year I seem no nearer to reaching that goal, but as long as I've made steps in the right direction, remembered what's important, been a blessing here and there - then perhaps my year has been ok - resolutions or not!

Friday Five

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 18:31:00 +0000

I think this may be the first time I've joined in the RevGalBlogPals 'Friday Five'. This week's is on Preparation Preparation...

1. You have a busy week, pushing out all time for preparing worship/ Sunday School lessons/ being ready for an important meeting (or whatever equivalent your profession demands)- how do you cope?
I squeeze in some time to prepare - either by staying up late or getting up very early, or both!

2. You have unexpected visitors, and need to provide them with a meal- what do you do?
I've usually got some chicken in the freezer and potatoes in the cupboard so I could usually manage jacket potatoes and a big pot of chicken and whatever else I've got to go in it! Or a meal from whatever else I did have - and if there's absolutely nothing, then I'd nip round the shop and grab something. I'm a bit of a dull cook, but this wouldn't faze me particularly!

Three discussion topics:
3. Thinking along the lines of this weeks advent theme; repentance is an important but often neglected aspect of advent preparations.....
I suspect I also neglect this aspect and focus on eager expectation and preparations/looking afresh at our spiritual life (which I suppose should draw in repentance then). But I leave the serious repentance season for Lent!

4. Some of the best experiences in life occur when you simply go with the flow.....
Possibly, can't think of any off the top of my head though!

5. Details are everything, attention to the small things enables a plan to roll forward smoothly...
Well, yes, I am a detail person so I tend to cover details as an automatic really. Having said that though, I still manage to frustrate the whatsit out of myself by not being prepared and organised enough!

Bonus if you dare- how well prepared are you for Christmas this year?
Hahahahaha! Does that answer the question? Though it does depend on which aspect of Christmas you look at - work (as in church) wise, I've been thinking and planning ahead and am getting the services sorted out. Homewise I end up charging around at the last minute and not sending out the cards. I'm trying harder this year (which I say I'll do every year) and have at least bought a few things today.

Some days...

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 09:12:00 +0000

Some days I wish I was a beach hut attendant or a postman or a gardener
(yes, ha ha if you've seem mine)
or worked in a bookshop or the library
or was childminding again
or was a long distance lorry driver
or a hilltop hermit
or doing what I do but 60 years ago
and in the country
where I could plod around the village like an Agatha Christie vicar
and not seem to worry so much about structures and visions
and could drink lots of cups of tea
(er, well some things don't change)
and frown a bit when the old ladies start gossiping
(though I suppose if I was an Agatha Christie vicar
I might need to worry about murderous neighbours...)
and I suppose I wish I could have a glimpse ahead
to see if I did any good
and if the days when it's a bit of a struggle
are only pages 43 to 45 in the biography someone writes about me one day
where the huge struggles seem to pass very quickly in the big scheme of things
And some days I wish my default was 'that was ok'
and not 'I am a failure'
or the assumption that someone else would be so much better
because I know that God sees in me
what I often miss
but that doesn't stop me worrying
that I am killing his church
running low on imagination
or forgetting that God
can do so much with or without
my feeble efforts
and yet he lets me share the journey.
Some days I have to remind myself
to put the right shoes on in the morning
not try and put His on by mistake
but pick up my faithful old boots
and keep plodding
keep seeing
the beauty of the autumn colours
keep smiling
at the thought of the people who share this ride
keep laughing
at the humour of humanness
keep believing
that God is at work
keep trusting that all will be well
just because he says so.

...and another!

noreply@blogger.com (Chelley) — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 22:50:00 +0000

Well, apologies that another sermon is appearing and there have been no random snippets of pointless reflection over a cuppa since the last one. Still, all praise and thanks to God for any RevGals who wander by with their wise words and valued comments again!

Sunday November 25th – Christ the King
Colossians 1: 11-20
Luke 23: 33-43

Jackie Pullinger – got on a boat and waited for God to tell her when to get off – dedicated her life to living and working in the dark streets of the lost city of Hong Kong – saw God transform lives of crime and drug addiction.

Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda, rebuilding each other’s homes after the destruction and violence of the genocide. I have a video I’ve watched over and over again of Christians working together amidst ongoing hatred and suffering.

A double decker bus called ‘BarNBus’ – a group of people sitting out on the bus just to be around for, listen to and chat with young people who might wander over.

The church home group who offered what they could to pay the monthly mortgage payment of a member who’d been made redundant, until that person could find more work.

Why have I told you about these things this morning? Because they are examples and demonstrations of the kingdom of God being close at hand, being here and now and of people living according to the ways and values of that kingdom.

We know that we don’t see all the fullness of God’s kingdom in front of us yet, but we musn’t be mistaken into thinking that it’s just way off into the future – only to be seen when Jesus returns or when we die and enter his presence.

And we’re thinking of these things today because we’re remembering ‘Christ the King’. Next week is Advent Sunday when our readings start to turn our thoughts towards preparing for the coming of the Lord – that first coming – born in the earthiness of the animals’ habitation when there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the inn; but also his second coming, when Jesus will return in glory. Let’s make sure we give the Advent preparations their due time and attention and not leap straight into Christmas – as the shops and streets around us are doing.

[Take the opportunity to come along here on December 1st for our time of focus on Advent and how to spiritually prepare for the Christmas season. It’s just from 10 – 1 and will provide examples and opportunities of types of prayer because we will only be a strong and Christ-centred church when we take seriously our spiritual lives and commit to becoming a people of prayer, both individually and together. And I have to state that the day won’t be scary but will just give tasters and ideas for making sure this advent we don’t just join in with the shopping frenzy, but think about the really valuable preparations of the season.]

So, this last Sunday before Advent we’re reminded of the end of Jesus’ earthly journey and witness again that conversation between Jesus and the man – the criminal – being crucified next to him. This man refused to join in the mockery of the soldiers and the scoffers and the man on the other side of Jesus; instead, having rebuked the other, he said to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And to that he heard the reply, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Jesus’ reply completely blows out of the water the assertions of those who try and proclaim Jesus only a ‘good man’ or a ‘wise teacher.’ Jesus was so much more than either of these – he was, and is, as Paul in our Colossians reading declares, ‘the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation in whom all things in heaven and on earth were created. He is before all things, in him all things hold together. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.’
These might be concepts that our weak minds struggle to get to grips with – the fullness of God in human form – but God made man, dwelling among us, is the heart of our faith, and of course the heart of the Christmas message that it’s our job to continue to proclaim as the season approaches.

Don’t let anyone tell you, or convince you that Jesus was just a very good man, an inspiring teacher, a wise prophet – he was of course, and still is, all these things, but he’s most significantly the Son of God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords. These aren’t arrogant claims we spout off, but his own revelation.

And today we remember Christ the King! That criminal dying beside him saw the truth and made a simple request, ‘Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.’ And the thing is, Jesus could say ‘yes, today you’ll be with me in paradise’ because he knew and because he was drawing near to death on that cross; and when it happened the gate of heaven would be opened for us to follow him. Not because he was a good man or a wise teacher, but because he was God’s Son – the one man who could break down sin and death and the barrier between humanity and God.

And what of the kingdom of our King? How often we pray together “your kingdom come your will be done” when we pray the Lord’s prayer, but how much expectation of seeing that kingdom before our very eyes, do we actually have?

We will ONE DAY see the kingdom in all its fullness, but it is real and it’s real now!
“The kingdom is present wherever people pray the way Jesus taught us to pray. The kingdom is present wherever Jesus nurtures certain behaviours and lifestyles that we call the fruit of the Spirit. The kingdom is present wherever people pour water over the heads of babies or take bread and wine to their lips all simply because Jesus told us that this is the way we are to act in remembrance of him.”[1]

The kingdom is present whenever a believer refuses to cut corners on their taxes, when this woman brings light into an elderly neighbour’s darkness by sitting with them, listening and sharing words of peace, or when that man gives up his Saturday to coach a football team for youngsters. The kingdom is present whenever a young person stops binge drinking along with the crowd for the sake of Jesus, or whenever someone stops in the street not only to buy a ‘Big Issue’ but to pause and chat and ask ‘how are you?’

The kingdom is present when one of us stops to pray for another and we witness the peace and presence and even the healing power of God here and now. That’s living in the kingdom. And I want to encourage you to do these things today because we’re called to be the people of God’s kingdom – not just in the future, but in the here and now. Christ is our king and it’s for us to show each other and the world out there what his kingdom is like – and give them a foretaste of heaven!

And ‘the world out there’ is not a huge sweeping ‘everything’ that seems too overwhelming to change, but it’s the people who fill your office to whom you can show honesty, integrity and patience and for whom you can pray.

It’s the people who live next door to you who you can bless with your prayers and graciousness, even when they curse you with their loud music or their badly behaved children.
It’s everyone you come into contact with in your ordinary, every, day. It’s going the extra mile because Jesus is our king.

I just want you to look around you for a moment – look at the people sitting behind you and next to you and in front of you – at the other end of the church – WE are God’s church, WE are the ones he has in this place who can demonstrate God’s kingdom in [our location], WE are God’s hands and feet and voice. WE are the ones who need to live as our king would have us live – loving one another, welcoming the visitor and the stranger, praying with commitment and conviction for God to be at work here, listening to one another and those who cross our paths, sharing the hope God’s given us with anyone who asks why we go to church, rolling up our sleeves to cook for our community when they turn out for lunch here, giving our time to nurture the faith of our children and young people and offering what we can – in time, in money, in energies to the Lord because it will be more worth it than we can possibly imagine.

Let’s give thanks to God for one another for where these things are already happening but let’s each ask God to prod us into action to be a part of the demonstration of his kingdom and keep our ears, our eyes and our hearts open so we can respond.

Amen.

[1] from “http://cep.calvinseminary.edu/thisWeek/index.php”