Letter to a doubter

We have started a module on Christian Doctrine and as part of the course we were asked to write a letter to someone about why Doctrine is important. I haven't got my results yet but I have copied it below.

A friend writes to you as follows:

‘I can’t understand why you have to study Christian doctrine in order to be a minister. It is too abstract, not related to practical Christian living, and destroys simple faith. My advice to you is keep your head down, and make sure you don’t let any of this study affect you.’

A letter in response.


Dear Friend

Thank you for your letter, but on this occasion I think we are going to have to agree to disagree. You see I thoroughly enjoy Theology and I really enjoy trying to get my head around what we believe as people of faith.

I have always believed that we have a responsibility to make sure we understand why we believe what we do. The writer of the book of 1 Peter writes: ‘Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an account of the hope that is in you’ (1 Peter 3:15). So without making to fine a point about it, it’s important that I understand what we believe as people called Christians.

There is another point I need to make. When I started the process of candidating for Presbyteral ministry, I was asked by my Superintendent minister why the Methodist Church puts so much into training its ministers. The answer took me by surprise. He felt that the reason why ministers went to institutions like Queens was to help us understand what we believe. By challenging us and pushing our theological boundaries, it is hoped that thinking through what we believe, we will be able to help others do the same.

I’ve used that word ‘Theology’ again and perhaps I’d better explain why I’m using ‘Theology’ instead of ‘Doctrine’. Thomas Aquinas was said to have described Theology as ‘Speaking of God’. I love this definition. It frees us to discuss and learn and debate about who God is. Some may say God is unknowable. I’m not so sure but that speaking of God often leads me to a sense of wonder and I cannot help but come before God in prayer and worship. In his book ‘Why bother with Theology’ Alex Wright quotes Maurice Conchis, the young school master in John Fowles’ novel ‘The Magus’. ‘In a terrible flash of light, all our explanations, all our classifications…appeared to me like thin net…reality, was no longer dead, easy to handle. It was full of a mysterious vigour, new forms, new possibilities’ (Quoted by Wright, 2002, pg. 60). Doctrine may seem dry and boring but I can promise you if you allow it to, theology or doctrine (take your pick) will take your understanding of God to places you can only dream of. 

Some would say that theology and doctrine create boundaries and stifle us. I think it’s safe to say from what my comments above that I don’t believe that’s true. Neither do most theologians. Mark McIntosh has writes that theology is at risk of ‘getting carried away from a respectable discipline, manages by theologians to a mysterious sharing of God’s way of life, God’s talk, God’s knowing and loving of Godself’ (McIntosh, 2008, pg. 7).  I think we put the boundaries up. We relegate doctrine and theology to the realm of the academic and the library. But when we open ourselves up to understanding God we are doing theology and we are developing our own doctrines.

Kindest Regards

Ray

McIntosh, M. 2008. ‘Divine Teaching: An introduction to Christian Theology.’ Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Wright, A. 2002.’Why bother with Theology?’ London: Darton, Longman, Todd.

Grove Green 22.03.2015

Readings:

Jeremiah 31:31-34
John 12:20-25

Do you ever wonder how famous Jesus was when he was alive? I know that sounds like a silly question but in terms of where he ministered and when he lived, it could be said that outside of Palestine he probably wasn't well known. And yet in the Gospel of John we have this account of a group of Greeks coming to meet Jesus. They go to Philip, who goes to Andrew who both go to Jesus and ask if he will meet with them. And then frustratingly we never find out if Jesus met with them.

But Jesus says something important at this point. He says now is the time for him to be glorified. What Jesus is saying is that by having Gentiles or non-Jews recognising who he was, the Kingdom of God was breaking out of its Jewish roots. I like to think Jesus then sat down with the Greeks and had a good debate over the nature of the world, but that’s in my head.

The new covenant Jeremiah talks about is also about how the Kingdom of God would break out of its Jewish roots. Jeremiah is talking about how God would bring all of his children back together to live together where God is so ingrained in who and what they are that will no longer have to teach each other about God. It is a wonderful prophecy that would be fulfilled through Christ.

One of my favourite phrases at the moment is: “we are people of the now and not yet”. We are part of the Kingdom of God that has been established on earth by Jesus but it is not yet completely here. We only have to look at all the suffering and strife in the world around us to know that God’s Kingdom has truly taken over. 

But I have to ask the question, are we as a church, any closer to being that community that no longer has to teach each other about God because he is so entrenched in our lives that when we see each other we see an image of God. And if we have to ask this question we have to ask the question of why aren't we there yet. What do we need to do to be a community that reflects the kingdom and love of God? 

I think we have three things we need to do:

1) We need to bring and give to God all the hurt and pain we have felt over the last few years. As a local church you have had lots of hurt and heartache and that pain and grief can hang around necks like a millstone. Until we can give that hurt and pain to God we will never really be able to be that community that shows the love of God.

2) We need to ask God to forgive us for holding onto our hurt and pain. Robin Williams starred in a movie called “What dreams may come”. The premise of the movie is that we create our own happiness or our own misery.If we go to God and repent of holding onto our hurt, we will be able to start to heal.

3) We need to start to love each other. I mean truly love each other and not just on a Sunday. So how do we love each other? Let’s start by doing little things like leaving a few chairs out for those us who aren't that steady on our feet. How about offering to set up in the morning so that it’s not always the same people doing it? Or simply giving someone a card that says “thinking of you”? Little things and little changes go a long way to demonstrating God’s love.

I see the Jeremiah and John passages as both a challenge and a promise. A challenge to live the way God wants us to and a promise that it is possible to live a life that God wants us to. The question for us then is: Do we want to?

Amen

Covenant Service with Grove Green

Every year Methodists are encouraged to take part in the Methodist Covenant Service. Methodists all over the commonwealth will be taking part in the same service and praying the same prayer that we will pray shortly. And the amazing thing is that we have been praying that prayer since 1755 when John Wesley shared it with 1500 people in the French Church at Spitalfields London.

Wesley was a magpie. He collected things from every group of Christians he came into contact with and the Covenant service is no different. He borrowed it from the Puritans and The Moravians. Both of these groups had huge impacts on the lives of John and Charles Wesley and it was with the Moravians that John had his heart strangely warmed. You might think this is all really nice but what does this mean for me? Well for me the importance of the Covenant Service is twofold:

1)    It shows the link to a tradition that we as Methodists have shared since Methodism began and for me this is important as a Methodist. We can sometimes be very quick to throw away our tradition in an attempt to somehow be contemporary or relevant. This service roots us in our tradition. It reminds us that we are not alone when there are times that it feels like we are the only Christians in the world.

2)    The Covenant Service reminds me that our calling as Christians is not to the Church but to love and serve God. It doesn’t matter how we worship or what denomination we belong to are calling is not to the Church but to God. We are called to his light and his salt to our communities and our families.

Jesus didn’t promise that being his disciples would be easy. And the important word there is disciple. A disciple is someone who follows a teacher. Out teacher just happens to be the Creator of the universe. And he will ask us to do some things that will be uncomfortable and difficult but we follow him because he holds the keys to life and life eternal.

The Covenant Service needs to come with a health warning however. When we say this prayer we are making a vow before God. We are entering into a covenant and it is something that God will take very seriously. If you do not feel that you can make the promises then please do not feel that you have to.

When we go through the Covenant prayer I would you to focus on two things:

1)    This school, and

2)    This community

I recently read a book called Small Church Big Impact. It was how small Churches are the backbone of the church universal. It is the small church that is meeting the needs of their community because they are part of the community. We are that small church in a community. We should unashamedly be that link between this Church and our community. The majority of us live in this community and so our focus needs to be this community.

So as we recommit ourselves to serving God let us recommit ourselves to our community.

Amen 

Journeys

Isaiah 60: 1-6

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14

Matthew 2: 1-12

“We are the seekers, the dreamers

Mystical trav'llers, believers

Risking it all on a star

Knowing there's somebody there

Longing to bring you our treasures

Lay at your feet the most precious

Gifts that our hearts can bring

Oh how we long to be there.”

This is the chorus to the song Seekers and dreamers by Graham Kendrick.  He was singing about the Magi. Those wonderful wise men who took a risk and followed a star. Matthew’s account of a group of star searchers who risked it all, tells of a group of Zoroastrian Scholars who studied the stars. A new star appeared in the sky and they followed it. They most likely travelled from Central Persia, modern day Iran and the journey would have been in the region of 1100 miles according to Google Maps. We all know they came bearing gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh and much has been read into the meaning of the gifts but they were gifts that were traditionally given to royalty.

Our Isaiah Passage was written about 600 years before the birth of Christ and in context it refers to the return of the exiles back to Jerusalem. It refers to a time when everyone will come home to a place where God is the King.

And in both these passages we hear echoes of our journeys as Christians as we move closer to God. We are a community of believers who share in that great joy of growing to love and serve God in our daily lives. One of the things that sets Methodists apart from other denominations is the innate desire to come together in small groups and support one another.  Paul writes that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. I always took that to be the saints that have gone before us but actually it hit me today when I was thinking about community; Paul was also talking about the believers who run the race with us. Just as the Magi had the support of each other and the returning exiles supported each other so we have a huge crowd of believers around us encouraging us to be the people God wants us to be.

We also run a race with our gifts and talents. We may not believe it but God has graced us with the most amazing array of gifts. I was recently asked by a local Church to come in and do a series of sessions about engaging with their local community. I gave them some homework which was a spiritual gifts test. The results were amazing. So many of those who were part of the discussions came away with a deeper sense of what they were able to achieve because of their gifts from God. In March we will get together again to find out what they have done with their gifts. I’m quite excited about it.

The Magi came with gifts that represented royalty. Their God given gifts of knowledge, understanding and wisdom bought them to the Baby Jesus. We know those returning to Jerusalem came with gifts from the Persian Kings to rebuild the Temple and the city. They also came with their own gifts of administration, teaching, construction and while the going was slow they were able to rebuild the city and the Temple.

This year the question I want to ask everyone is what are God’s gifts for you to use? Do you know? If you don’t can I suggest you find out. Talk to someone who knows you. Ask them what they think your gifts are? Maybe you are an exceptional administrator. Maybe you are a brilliant listener. Maybe you simply love being around people and you have a desire to share what God has done. Find out what God has given you for the development of his Kingdom.

There is the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. In the parable three workers are given talents to invest. One is given 10, the second is given 5 and the third 1. The first two go out and invest their talents and come back with even more. The third worker buries his talent and at the time of reckoning is punished for not using it. So many people have talents that are underused or undeveloped. If you sat for a while and thought about it I have no doubt you could find something that be developed and grown for God to use.

Part of our role as disciples is to encourage each other to develop. I mentioned community earlier and it is important that we as a community support each other’s growth. This is what true discipleship is. Nurturing each other to the fullness of faith so that together we may serve the King in faithfulness and love and that includes us using everything that God has given to us

God loves us. He gave us the greatest gift of all in his son Jesus Christ, who died and was raised from the dead so that we may become sons and daughters of God and we can live for God when we come into relationship with him through Jesus. It is a gift. Just one of the many gifts God gives us because he loves us. Today grab those gifts with both hands and together as a community we can see the Kingdom of God come here on earth.

Amen