God’s Word gives us life

Sunday 24th October by Mavis Wilson

Readings: Psalm 119: 97-112; Acts 8: 26-39; Luke 4:16-30

What gives you life? What gives you that deep sense of well being? Creation? Music? Having an argument? Running? Silence? There are many answers no doubt running around in your minds. Did any of you I wonder come up with the answer of any of the three people in this morning’s readings - the song writer, the visitor and the traveller.

First of all the song writer, the psalmist - this is what he says - give me life O Lord according to your word. For him the word of God gives life. Isn’t that true for us too? So often in our journey of discipleship we are turned back to the story of creation in Genesis as the foundation of all that we are. God spoke and God said Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness. All those things which you might have thought of as life giving are , no doubt, life enhancing but it is God’s creative word which is the source of our life and for the songwriter of Psalm 119 it is many more things as well.

Remember that for him the Word of God was primarily the commandments, not only the ten but all the other laws which held life together for the Israelite community. On the numerous occasions in the Old Testament when those commandments were violated or neglected, life did not hold together and the nation suffered defeats in war, plague and ultimately exile which you will remember if you have been following the readings for Morning Prayer this week. So what does the psalmist find in God’s word or God’s law? In these few verses there are a surprising number of things. He discovers a wisdom beyond his years or the knowledge of his teachers; he says that as he thinks about God’s word evil is kept away from him, God’s words are a feast – they taste sweet as honey; light is shed on the path he is taking and he receives illumination for his journey of life. His response to God’s healing word is praise and even his failing life is sustained. In the face of wicked enemies he keeps a right course and his inheritance is not money nor land but God’s precepts. God’s principles and instructions. God’s word is a shield and hiding place and gives him hope. That is quite a list.

Is that how we would describe the Bible? Do we find all those things in the Scriptures we have which are a much more extensive record of God’s word than any the psalmist may have heard. The Bible is the unfolding revelation of the God in whom we trust and has been guided by the Holy Spirit through the oral and written traditions which have been gradually sifted and assembled into their present form – a long process involving many people. Do we see the Bible, God’s word as life giving? Do we value the inheritance passed down to us or is it just a dusty book on the shelf, not as a treasure. Where is your Bible by the way? How often do you touch it? Do you handle or ignore the ones in church? It’s easy to ignore when we have so many Bibles and so many chances to open them – but that’s not the case for millions of people in China and Vietnam where there is a huge hunger for the Bible in the language of their hearts. A hunger which the Bible Society is working hard to satisfy and whose work we especially remember to-day.

In the Gospel this morning we meet a visitor or maybe a returnee. Jesus himself visiting his home town of Nazareth. He goes into the synagogue as he would have done many times before as a child and young man. The synagogue was the place of the word of God. The scrolls of the scriptures were kept there and people gathered sitting on three sides of a square around the lectern where any male member of the community could stand to read. After the reading the reader would sit down and there would be a discussion. On this particular morning Jesus chose a passage from Isaiah – a passage about a very special person who would come , the anointed one, the Messiah of God. Nothing so extraordinary about that, no doubt it was a familiar passage. What is extraordinary is that Jesus applies it to himself. He is the anointed one, he is saying, the chosen one of God who has a mission discerned from Scripture which will set the course of his life.

One of the prayers which we pray in the marriage service says may they discern in your word order and purpose for their lives. Jesus discerned the order and purpose for his life in God’s word in Isaiah. Do we receive guidance for our lives in the Bible?

But there are other words spoken in this incident apart from the word of God. People acclaim Jesus to begin with but turn violently against him when he infers that they may not be the only chosen ones, but that other people whom they see as outsiders (like the outsiders in Elijah and Elisha’s time who were blessed through them) may actually be the ones who will receive God’s word and blessing even though they are not part of the Jewish nation. God’s word, the good news of Christ who is God’s living word,, is for all. It is that conviction which motivates the work of the Bible Society.

Then the traveller – an important man, a chancellor of the exchequer (he obviously hadn’t been announcing cuts if he had had time to leave the country that week) a man with strong religious leanings. He is on his way home from a visit to Jerusalem, probably a kind of pilgrimage for Luke tells us he had come to Jerusalem to worship. He was not only important but educated and rich – he had his own scroll of the prophet Isaiah and there he was bumping along in his chariot reading it. He obviously didn’t suffer from travel sickness! Anyway there is he reading aloud; just as Phillip, who was apparently an excellent runner, steamed up beside him activated by the power and word of the Spirit all ready to help him understand what it was he was reading. In an astonishing way this man form Africa had already begun to understand that the passage was about a very special person who would come, the anointed one, the Messiah of God. Phillip is able to tell him that this is about Jesus and his words fall on open ears, so much so that the Ethiopian turns to Christ in a remarkable way. God’s word brings him life, spiritual life in the kingdom of God.

Phillip is himself God’s word to t his man. Are you ready to bring God’s word to others? Could you turn to a passage of Scripture to help someone in trouble or find a passage which would bring hope out of despair or comfort at a time of grief? Do you know how to use the Bible to point someone who is searching to faith in Christ?

Yesterday we heard at the Bible Society coffee morning about the people of Vietnam where the church is growing rapidly and many house churches number thousands of believers; - men and women who long to have a Bible to read and where the pastors long to have enough copies for their growing congregations to have the chance to read Scripture for themselves. Did you know that the average cost of providing a Bible for those people is only £4. Yet its value to them is incalculable. Most of our Bibles are more expensive than that, yet how much do we value them?

So does the word of God, the Bible, bring you life? We had a young woman on the Alpha course who told us that she refused to read the Bible because it is biased. She was right. It is. It is biased because it is the word of the living God, our creator who loves us and calls us to be disciples of his Son Jesus Christ. It is the record of an unfolding revelation of the nature of this God is in whom we trust and believe. If we read and engage with it(and that takes time and effort) then it will lead us into all truth – that is the testimony of millions of Christians down the ages. That is why people like Wycliffe whom we celebrated recently and Henry Martin whom we celebrated this week gave their lives to translate the Bible into English and in to Persian

If we don’t read and engage with God’s word then we are unlikely to grow as disciples of Jesus. We may even find ourselves amongst those who sneered in the synagogue, refusing to receive the word which points to Christ.

Maybe we need those whom we might be tempted to regard as outsiders, the believers in Vietnam and China, the Sudan and Tanzania to remind us of the great life giving truths which it contains and to hear their testimony of what it means to them. Maybe that will inspire us to value it more and open it more frequently. Amen

Questions

1. Which of the ten Commandments is for you the most life affirming?

2. How and when do you read the Bible? Do you need to improve your habit?

3. Which passages from the Bible would you point out to someone who was asking about becoming a Christian?

4. Have you looked at the website of the Bible Society? If not have a look ; it is well worth exploring.

God’s creativity is shared with us

Sunday 17 October 2010 by Mavis Wilson

Romans 12.3-12

God loves diversity and rejoices in variety. How do we know that? Well just look at creation. It contains myriad upon myriad of different forms, shapes, colours, species. Consider the stars and the planets; how many are there? Then there are plants and animals, how many different kinds of those, subdivided many times into sets and sub sets. What about people? Are any two the same? No each has a unique DNA – as many a criminal has found to their cost! God loves diversity and rejoices in variety. God created and continues to create with joyful abandon; even chaos is necessary in God’s scheme of creating the astonishing world inhabited by remarkable people – that’s us.

God showers gifts upon us - gifts given to all of us - so that we can share in the life giving creativity of God. What are these gifts? They are gifts of temperament, preference; of skills, talents and spiritual gifts.

So what kind of a person are you? Outgoing and extrovert, enjoying receiving from other people or introvert and reflective drawing on strengths from within yourself?

Maybe you value thinking rationally about problems, solving them step by step ; problems which other people approach, and even solve on the basis not so much of how they think but how they feel.

Perhaps you appreciate things through your senses or your appreciation may come in a more intuitive way.

Possibly you are the sort of person who loves to complete a job, wrap it up and label it ‘Done’ - but you may not be like that, because some people can live with all kinds of unfinished business and loose ends – a few preachers have even been known to finish their sermons as they are preaching them!

What kind of person are you? There is no right or wrong answer. We are simply different We each have a great variety of characteristics which make us unique.

How much do we appreciate all these differences? Sometimes as in marriage two opposites make a complementary whole – better together. At other times our differences rub up against one another and we revert to childish rivalries and antagonism and we fall a long way short of Christian love for each other.

Then there are talents as well as preferences or temperamental differences. What are you good at? - painting, music, maths, knitting, project planning, gardening, atomic physics, loving people, sailing, cheering up a desolate group of people, organising or caring in a long term situation of need. What gives you enjoyment? When do you have the greatest sense of satisfaction? If the world were your oyster what would you most like to achieve?. I can guarantee that your answer would be utterly different from the answer of your neighbour sitting alongside you this morning - and there is no right and wrong. We are each unique. God loves diversity and rejoices in variety.

What are your spiritual gifts? Don’t say ‘I am not a spiritual person’ We are all spiritual people. Paul reminds us in this morning’s epistle that there are varieties of Gifts. and anyone who is genuinely open to God’s Spirit will receive spiritual gifts. This is just one of a number of lists in the New Testament. – prophecy, ministry, teaching, giving, leadership, compassion. But you can’t escape by dismissing all of these since Paul adds to the list in 1 Corinthians 12 - wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, discernment of spirits, tongues. This is not a sermon about the nature of each of these gifts . We have explored many of them before. The fact is that God lavishes these gifts on us if only we are willing to receive them and different gifts are given to different people because God rejoices in variety . but much more importantly, because we are created to need one another. – that may be hard for some of us to hear – we like to be independent. But we cannot do the work of God of bringing life to others and working for the justice and peace which God’s kingdom brings without each other and so the gifts which we have are not given for our own benefit and satisfaction but for the good of all.

Perhaps we have witnessed one of the most striking examples of people using their talents and skills for the benefit of others in the amazing rescue operation in Chile these past few days. The technological skills of geologists and mining engineers, of rescue teams and medical personnel, of project managers and co-ordinators of volunteer supporters each offered their gifts for the benefit of thirty three men trapped below ground in the heat, humidity and darkness of that mine. They were literally resurrected before the eyes of an amazed world because of the variety of people and skills which came together. Underground there was evidence of the spiritual gifts needed for the spiritual life to be maintained. Do you remember the oldest miner who said, on rescue,’ I never doubted that we would be saved’. He had a gift of faith and therefore brought hope in that dark place. Another was reported to be an evangelist who’ kept up the spirits of the men through their ordeal’. Another had a gift of leadership which enabled the 33 to decide to divide into three groups, more manageable in terms of relationships in the conditions where they were trapped. Someone had a gift of wisdom and realised the importance of helping the others to find ways of exercising and dividing the 24 hours into rest, work and relaxation periods, including one period for prayer, and this helped to save them psychologically and physically Diverse gits were offered for the good of all..

We are in this business of being church together. We are members one of another. If that seems challenging then perhaps it might help to realise that God created us in this way out of love. Being the Body of Christ is to be a blessing not a curse. We can choose to see one another as gifts from God. How would that change your attitude to the person whom you find really difficult? The person who is sitting two rows in front of you whom you don’t like or sitting two rows behind you who you are glad you can’t see?

Being a Christian is not spectator sport. We are called to be involved with one another, Each of us has personal characteristics talents and spiritual gifts give by God in order to create a community where people are valued, loved, affirmed, cared for and also enabled to offer whatever it is that God has gifted them with as unique individuals, loved and precious in God’s sight. When we see each other in that way we are freed from envy about the gifts and talents which we see in other people because we rejoice in using our own God given gifts. We are freed from expecting others to do the things we do because they are our things s to get on with because of our unique gifts – it is a mutual effort. So what part in the life of the church here are each of us, are you, you playing? . If you are not using your gifts then the whole body is weakened. If you are not sharing your resources with the rest of the body of Christ then the work of God cannot move forward in the way in which God is calling us.

I was deeply shocked to hear of one person who criticised someone else for using their gifts and the person being critical did not seem to understand why we all need to share in the everyday tasks of making sure the worship of this church continues to happen. It needs all of us to participate.

Sometimes I think that the worship which I love the most in this church is Weds morning when the residents from Whitebourne join us. We rarely have music which I do miss a lot but as members of our congregation come in with elderly frail people on their arm, the able bodied offering their physical strength to support the others weakness; as I see the gifts of love and care willingly given: as I notice one person pointing out the words on the service sheet to someone who can no longer follow them for themselves; as I see perfectly able bodied people asking to receive communion in the same way as our infirm visitors do in order not to allow them to feel marginalised; as I enjoy cakes often specially baked for our friends, then I see all kinds of gifts shared for the benefit of others and it really does seem that the kingdom of God has come very close. For as in one body we have many members….so we who are many are one body in Christ and individually we are members one of another. That is how we are created and that is how we can share our gifts so as to be the people who reflect the creativity of God. Amen

Questions

1. What are you main characteristics, talents and spiritual gifts?
2. What helps you to understand and love a person in the church whom you do not particularly like?
3. In what specific ways do you offer your gifts in God’s service in the church context? Is there anything you are holding back from God?
4. When or where have you seen the Body of Christ working as it should?

God’s generosity inspires us.

Sunday 10th October 2010 by Alan Walden.

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

We are continuing today our series on discipleship and we come now to Christian generosity. For anyone who is concerned about being forced to give more than they want, there is some excellent news. 2 Corinthians Chapter 9 v 7: ‘Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.’ So I am not about to tell you how much to give, or what to give to, or to try to force you to give against your better judgement. If the very idea of a sermon about giving puts you on edge, then do relax! There is no pressure or compulsion in the Kingdom of God.

But the Bible has a lot to say about our attitudes to money and to giving - because money is spiritual, and how we treat it is an excellent barometer of how much we trust God and his promises. This passage supplies 2 powerful reasons for generosity and 2 amazing attitudes towards giving.

The first most basic inspiration comes from the generosity of God himself.

Verse 8: ‘God is able to provide’, he supplies our needs abundantly. God is the great provider, from creation onwards. Last week we celebrated that provision with our harvest festival. God’s nature is abundant generosity. Verse 9 (quoting Psalm 112) says ‘he scatters abroad, he gives to the poor, his righteousness endures for ever’.

The generosity of God is not limited, it will never run out. And so, God does not need our money or our generosity, he is quite able to provide all that is necessary. Whatever our motivation is for giving, it is certainly not that God is running a bit short on funds and needs us to help out. Rather, the generosity of God inspires us to be generous ourselves.

Sometimes, giving can feel rather like chipping away at ice. It is sometimes my job to defrost the freezer, and if it needs doing quickly, while it is still frozen hard, it requires great effort. Deep frozen ice is incredibly tough. But if you allow it to warm up, soften and melt, comes away easily and soon flows freely as water. Likewise, our giving should be something which overflows from hearts which have been warmed by God’s love, and inspired by the generosity of God towards us.

If giving is hard, it is because our hearts are hard, and a sign that we need to be warmed by the generosity of God.

And the ultimate generosity of God is expressed in Jesus, the divine giver and the divine gift. He is the greatest treasure we have received. Verse 15 ‘Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!’ His giving of himself, freely, voluntarily and completely, is our example and inspiration.

The second reason for generosity is the promise of God. Our giving is not filling in a shortfall in God’s ability, but rather it triggers a greater outpouring of God’s generosity.
v6 ‘the one who sows bountifully will reap bountifully’.

When we give of ourselves (financially or in other ways) to support God’s work, then we are joining in with what he is already doing. This is a great privilege - however we choose to do it. Giving to support the mission of God puts us on his side.

What’s more, it means that what we give will be multiplied in its effects by what God is already doing. As we give, there is the great power of God transforming our seed corn investment in the Kingdom of God into a fantastic crop ripe for harvesting - the more we sow, the more there is to reap.

Verse 10 ‘He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.’ Our giving is part of the flow of God’s Spirit. God fills us with good things, so we can give out. Verse 11 ‘You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity’. And the extent to which our very limited open-handedness will result in an overflowing from God’s open hands was also spoken of by the prophet Malachi in the last book of the Old Testament. In chapter 3 of Malachi, at verse 8-10 God says ‘bring the full tithe into the storehouse... put me to the test... see if I will not ...pour down doe you an overflowing blessing!’

And this flow continues with a round of thanksgiving to God, and warmed hearts which produce more generosity. When we receive a good gift, it produces thankfulness in us.

When our mission partners the Reads came to visit, it was obvious that they really appreciated the generosity they had received from some people and groups in Frimley. They were truly - touched, and thankful. And they were clearly encouraged to continue in their work of spreading the good news of Gods love by word and deed.

So the promise of God - that he will multiply what we give - resulting in an abundance of blessing, is a wonderful reason for generous giving to be a particular feature of our Christian discipleship.

So with these two powerful reasons - the generosity of God and the promise of God to bless our giving, what does it imply for out attitude to giving?

Firstly, it means our attitude can cheerful. ‘God loves a cheerful giver’ (Verse 7). I think the translation ‘cheerful’ is a bit weak - the word used in the original Greek is hilaron from which we get the word hilarious. God wants us to be joyful as we give, and he has given us those twi strong reasons to be extremely glad that we can respond to his generosity.

Being cheerful is the very opposite of being fearful. Fear is a great barrier to generosity. If we are fearful for our financial security, then giving money away is low down our list. The other enemy of giving is of course our own greed.

There is, I think, a correct order about how we should think about what we do with money, which leads to cheerfulness.

If we first think what we give, then what we should save, and lastly budget what we spend, then our giving has its right relationship to what we receive. Our culture encourages us to spend first, save if we can, and give out of any surplus. Then it feels much harder to give, than when it comes first. It is hard to cheerfully give up spending on something we had hoped for, but if we think of giving first, we can more happily enjoy spending what we have left.

Secondly - our attitude should be generous. Since it is founded on the generosity of God, this follows of course. What do we mean by generous?

The Old Testament had a rule - tithing - one 10^th or 10%, (Leviticus 27:30 and elsewhere.) In the New Testament, we have no such law. Instead, as it says in Verse 7 of our reading, ‘Everyone should give as they think fit’. It is for each of us to decide what we think is a reasonable and appropriate level of giving. That leaves room for generosity, rather than obedience to a command.

Of course, the tithing rule of the Old Testament was established in response to the generosity of God experienced by the people of Israel. In the New Testament we have a different and fuller revelation of the generosity of God in Christ. That stimulated the early church to great acts of generosity. It is a question for each of us whether our giving should be less, or more, than the 10% of the old testament. Personally, I think it would be strange if the ratio chosen by a disciple of Christ was less than the Old Testament level, because of the abundant grace we have received in Christ. But (like faith itself) it is an entirely personal decision.

(It was only after I had finished preparing this sermon that I realised the date I was to deliver it was the 10^th of the 10^th of the 2010. At the 10 o’clock service. Apparently some couples have been waiting to get married on this day (seen as being lucky). I really don’t want to focus on any number in relation to giving, because the subject is generosity, not a rule. But perhaps, this particular date might be an auspicious one to consider the percentage of our giving!)

So I hope that today you are inspired to review your generosity to God’s work - this needs prayerful consideration. Not something we should do on the spur of the moment, neither is it a one off or an occasional activity. Giving is part of the lifestyle of a Christian. It is bound up with the closeness of our walk with Christ. As we know more and more of the generosity of God and the promises of God, our giving will be come more cheerfully hilarious, and ever more similar to the generous love of God in our Lord Jesus Christ

QUESTIONS
1) How have you experience the generosity of God in your life?

2) In what way does God both supply and then multiply the ‘seed’ of our generosity?

3) What steps might you take to become a more cheerful and generous giver?

Harvest – God’s good gifts are for everyone

Sunday 3^rd October by Mavis Wilson

Isaiah 61.8-11; Acts 4. 32-37; Luke 6. 20-26

Have you ever had your life turned upside down? What was that experience like? Was it a good or bad event which turned everything topsy turvey? How did it affect the rest of your life? Did you learn and grow? Was there a positive result even if the process was painful? If so then God’s Spirit was at work bringing something new and good out of the upside down shock of whatever it was..

Today we celebrate Harvest at St Peter’s and the Patronal Festival St Francis - to- day is dedicated to St Francis whose life demonstrated that to be rich is not enough. What is vital is to obey God’s call and live a life of generosity towards others.. For Francis this meant leaving behind a life of comfort and security and the approval and love of family and setting out to serve the poorest of the poor first amongst lepers in his locality and then further afield as he established his communities of friars and later their sister communities of the Poor Clares who, during the course of Francis’s life, spread throughout the whole of Christendom serving those in need and preaching the gospel of repentance and faith in Christ. From being a young man with a rich and comfortable life he became a wandering nomad with neither possessions nor money of his own. His life was literally turned upside down.

What would have moved a rich young man to abandon comfort and security and live a life of poverty and service? For Francis as for most of us it was both human and divine encounters which combined to change the course of his life. The human encounter is recalled in the "story of the beggar." Francis was selling cloth and velvet in the marketplace on behalf of his father when a beggar came to him and asked for alms. At the conclusion of his business deal, Francis abandoned his wares and ran after the beggar. When he found him, Francis gave the man everything he had in his pockets. His friends quickly chided and mocked him for his act of charity. When he got home, his father scolded him in rage. But compassion had been kindled in his heart. He began to see those in need as of much value as the rich and comfortable.

In 1201, he joined a military expedition against Perugia and was taken prisoner spending a year as a captive In this time he presumably had time to think and in all probability endured a considerable level of discomfort. It is possible that his spiritual conversion was a gradual process rooted in this experience. When he returned to Assisi, Francis returned to his carefree life but only a year later a serious illness led to a real spiritual crisis. Francis left to enlist in the army but he had a vision which made him return to Assisi, to obey the voice which he had heard saying ‘Go build my church which you see falling into ruin.’ In order to do that Francis had to allow his life to be literally turned upside down - and that is also the call to everyone who would be a disciple of Jesus, because the kingdom which Jesus calls us to build, the kingdom of God, is itself a kingdom of upside down values in which the poor are called blessed and the rich are warned about the dangers they face as the Gospel this morning reminds us. Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God………………….Woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolation .

Does that mean that it is all down hill then for us who have the privilege of being rich, at least in so far as we can count on God’s faavour. Or recalling the sermon last week when Margaret spoke about God delighting in us, does that mean that God no longer delights in those who have a healthy bank balance. No, it isn’t quite as simple as that.

Isaiah 61 of which we read the last verses begins with the prophecy about the one whom the Lord had anointed to bring good news to the poor. The chapter finishes with a description of the blessings which come to those whom God has rescued from sorrow, poverty and oppression. That same rescue mission is taken on by Jesus who uses the verses from Isaiah as his manifesto in Luke 4, describing his mission of bringing in God’s kingdom. He gathers his disciples for the same mission. They too, and therefore we, must recognize that God wants blessings, freedom and justice for all people . Where that happens there is the kingdom. Where it does not happen the kingdom of God has not yet come. We have many blessings but those same blessings are God’s will and purpose for all. God’s generosity is for everyone to enjoy. None should be deprived.

The dramatic example of how the kingdom will work comes in the reading from Acts where the believers share everything they have and no-one is in need. A specific act of generosity by Barnabas who goes off and sells a field and adds the proceeds to the common purse is not singled out as unusual but rather as an example of what is normal.

This is almost mind blowing for us. We live such individual lives. When you are in need what do you do? Try and get on stoically, not bothering anyone else? Probably! We do not like to show our areas of weakness, need or poverty and we are embarrassed by those who are honest enough to do so and yet…………………if someone we know in the community does express need or poverty then often we are more than willing to share what we have ……….…up to a point. Would we actually go and sell something in order to give to a brother or sister in need. What would we really do? How far would we go?

But the challenge of Jesus and of Francis takes us beyond the circle of those whom we know to the realm of the genuinely poor- those people who may in fact be our near neighbors - about whom we heard about last week and this week at our Harvest Festivals. People helped to survive by the work of the Church Urban Fund; people who are literally on the bread line, desperately trying to keep a roof over their heads and a home for their children; those who actually suffer hunger in this community or not far from it. As we become aware of these realities we also realize that because of our human frailty God’s kingdom has not come even in out own country, supposedly Christian though it is. Whatever your political opinions and allegiances I would urge you to think carefully in the coming weeks as the Governments spending cuts are unveiled this week. I am sure some cuts are needed but who will really bear the brunt? As a nation do we believe that God is generous to all and that therefore we should ensure that everyone is treated justly and in ways which make them feel blessed?

Justice and generosity rather than greed and hoarding are vital too on the international scene if the world is to live at peace, otherwise there will be wars over resources, the balance of power between rich and poor will be changed by violence and unimaginable chaos will result.

How can we follow the example of Jesus and St Francis? Can we ensure harvest time comes for everyone as God intends? Are we willing for our lives to be turned upside down for the sake of the kingdom.?

Sometimes the challenge of bringing in God’s kingdom is just too big. We need to take smaller steps. Try these-

· Allow God to breathe his Spirit into you (remember the sermon three weeks ago)

· Be informed about the reality of poverty and its effects.

· Simplify your life style and release resources for others.

· Be willing to admit your need and learn to receive from others.

· Share whatever you have with someone who needs it when their need becomes known to you.

· Try lending with no necessary expectation of return.

There is a book around at present called The tipping point. It deals with the process of how things change and the basic thesis is that there are a whole lot of small things which need to happen which gradually build to a climax when the ripping pit is reached and things change significantly and suddenly although really it has been coming for a while.

So take small steps and you will be taken by the Spirit to the point of having your life turned upside down for God.

Questions

1. Has your life ever been turned upside down? What happened and what was the long term effect?

2. In what ways do you feel rich and in what ways do you feel poor?

3. Are there any specific ways in which you are involved in caring for the poor?

4. Is there anything you will do differently as a result of your discussion to-day?