Hope Shines On...

Genesis 32: 22-30 (NRSVA)

²⁷ So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ ²⁸ Then the man^[a] said, ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,^[b] for you have striven with God and with humans,^[c] and have prevailed.’ ²⁹ Then Jacob asked him, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And there he blessed him. ³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel,^[d] saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’

Footnotes:

1. Genesis 32:28 Heb he
2. Genesis 32:28 That is The one who strives with God or God strives
3. Genesis 32:28 Or with divine and human beings
4. Genesis 32:30 That is The face of God

John 12: 27-32 (NRSVA)

Jesus Speaks about His Death

²⁷ ‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ ²⁹ The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ ³⁰ Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. ³¹ Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. ³² And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people^[a] to myself.’

Footnotes:

1. John 12:32 Other ancient authorities read all things

‘If God exists, how does He make Himself known to us?’ Life is a struggle at times. It is for all disciples and has always been so. It’s not that there are not times of ease and rest, there are, but in the middle of family, work and the messy stuff of life, it does feel that the sense of struggle overshadows any sense of peace. In the wider world we recognise that for many people ‘life struggle’ is their life. At present our lives are full of news stories of workers losing the jobs, people struggling to feed their families and having to use food banks, homelessness, health and social care shortages and refugees living in squalor camps and in the shadow of war and violence. In everyday conversation it’s not unusual to hear refugees and immigrants being blamed for the decision of our elected representatives to impose on communities the misery of austerity, health and social care shortages and for rises in crime. It feels that struggle and discrimination trumps solidarity. In this persistent experience of life it is understandable to doubt the promise and hope of Jesus of the Nazareth discourse. Jesus promise of liberation was claimed to have come in the Luke 4 discourse of Jesus and to be actively renewing our diverse worlds of struggle.  It is part of the process of discipleship to be consciously aware of this struggle for change and the feeling of contradiction and doubt that the process of struggle gives, especially in the face of apparent persistent defeats for inclusion and solidarity.  The two passages we examine today are rooted in such situations. Jacob and his family struggle with unpredictability and the very real threats to life. In the struggle of life Jacob struggles with God and His promises. Yet it is in the struggle that Jacob finds God, his own true self, identity and positive hope for his family’s and our future. He is part of a great liberation story and although that does not improve his immediate situation, he does gain the hope to keep going with his family in the long trek towards home, freedom and justice.  In the life of Jesus we see the same themes. As Jesus approaches His own death He faces the option to reject being part of a liberation story and embrace a role of cold and distant sovereignty mirrored in the religious elite of His time and the Roman Empire. ‘No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour’ is the conclusion that Jesus comes to. Jesus accepts the ‘liberation of the struggle’; the freedom to resist non-violently the powers that struggle against us and God.  Jesus achieves the final ‘liberation from the struggle’ in the securing of the promise of the Kingdom of God that we will all inherit. The struggle against ‘the powers’ of war and violence, poverty, lack of health and social care, hopelessness, homelessness, discrimination and poor educational opportunity is the exercise of freedom. The process of non-violent resistance and struggle will achieve full freedom as we realise the Kingdom of God in its fullness within our lives as Jesus’ soon return approaches. God makes Himself known in the middle of the struggles for life, freedom and justice as Jesus demonstrated and taught.

         

 Saint Patrick's "Breastplate" Prayer

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three. 

Belong before you believe....

Genesis 21: 15-19

¹⁷ And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, ‘What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. ¹⁸ Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.’ ¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink.

John 17: 20-24

²⁰ ‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹ that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us,  so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (NRSV)

Yet another story where God reveals Himself in the troubled questions and situations of life: The bible has many stories of exile and exclusion. Some folks have misused these stories to define their own reasons for excluding people from their own lives personally, socially, and economically not to mention geographically. Insiders and outsiders, those who belong and those who are out, union versus separation challenge us every day. How does God reveal Himself in terms of the insider outsider debate? What principles are available to us as disciples of the ‘Jesus of the Nazareth discourse’ to apply to our practical living? Our starting point is Jesus. It is through Him, His teaching and how He lived that creates the focus for us, to see clearly, what are the possibilities for God and our practical lives together. At the point of His final rejection, Jesus prays for those close to Him and for those not yet close to Him, but to whom He is close. In the story of Hagar and Ishmael in Genesis, rejection and outsider status from family and community is experienced and death is close; but God, life and inclusion in the promises of God is closer. Rejection and exile are powerful but being present, being concerned, being actively involved, through the practice of inclusion are far more powerful. God reveals Himself as the One who is present and active even in the lived experience of exclusion. In John, Jesus prays and is committed to those who have included Him but also to and for those who have excluded Him, those, we, as followers of Jesus, might be tempted to exclude. Jesus reveals God as the One who is the prime mover in ‘belonging before belief’. Hagar and Ishmael had a place in the story of God even if Sarah and Abraham excluded them. And so it is that God chooses us, He believes in us; we belong, long before we believe; even if we ever do truly believe. Jesus reveals God as the God who incudes all of us in His plan for recreation and redemption. Exclusion comes in many forms: physical, social, psychological, economic, environmental, racial, sexual, and so the list goes on. But what are the starting points for followers of Jesus in the divine but practical project of inclusion and embrace. Our small community of disciples and followers Jesus is exploring this at the moment as part of our ‘Epiphany’ series.  We are re reading together Stuart Murray’s book ‘The Naked Anabaptist: The Bare Essentials of a Radical Faith’; published by Paternoster in Milton Keynes. Here is an extract that we are working through as a framework for our collective reflections together. If we recognise that Jesus is the revelation of God how should this belief effect how we live?  Perhaps you will reflect on these principles also.

    

1.      Jesus is our example, teacher, friend, redeemer and Lord. He is the source of our life, the central reference point for our faith and lifestyle, for our understanding of church and our engagement within society. We are committed to following Jesus as well as worshiping him.

2.      Jesus is the focal point of God’s revelation. We are committed to a Jesus Centred approach to the bible and to the community of faith as the primary context in which we read the bible and discern and apply its implications for discipleship.

3.      Western culture is slowly emerging for the Christendom era, when church and state jointly presided over a society in which almost everybody was supposed to be Christian. Whatever its positive contributions on values and institutions, Christendom seriously distorted the gospel, marginalised Jesus, and has left the church ill equipped for mission in the post Christendom culture. As we reflect on this, we are committed to learning from the experience and perspectives of movements such as Anabaptism that rejected standard Christendom assumptions and pursued alternative ways of thinking and behaving.

4.      The frequent association of the church with status, wealth, and force is inappropriate for the followers of Jesus and damages our witness. We are committed to exploring ways of being good news to the poor, powerless and persecuted, aware that such discipleship may attract opposition resulting in suffering and sometimes ultimately martyrdom.

5.      Churches are called to be committed communities of discipleship and mission, places of friendship, mutual accountability, and multivoiced worship.  As we eat together, sharing bread and wine, we sustain hope as we seek God’s kingdom together. We are committed to nurturing and developing such churches, in which young and old are valued, leadership is consultative, roles are related to gifts rather than gender and baptism is for believers.

6.      Spirituality and economics are interconnected. In an individualist and consumerist culture and in a world where economic injustice is rife, we are committed to finding ways of living simply, sharing generously, caring for creation and working for justice.

7.      Peace is at the heart of the gospel. As followers of Jesus in a divided and violent world, we are committed to finding nonviolent alternatives and to learning how to make peace between individuals, within and among churches, in society and between nations.        

(Murray S, (2010) The Naked Anabaptist: The Bare Essentials of a Radical Faith. Paternoster, Milton Keynes. Page 45-46)

Father God, by your tender mercy, be our dawn from on high, break upon us,  give light to those of us who sit in darkness and the shadow of death and in your compassion guide our feet into the way of peace; through Jesus Christ your Son, Amen