Tag Archives: Blessing

Minister

Be Blessed

What does it mean to be blessed?
Your answer might depend on what you understand by the word. For some it means they are lucky, they have good fortune, they are happy and content with life. For others it has a deeply sacred tone. My thesaurus lists – holy, sacred, divine, hallowed, sanctified, adored,
exalted, revered, spiritual, canonised, godlike. Others may use it to replace a swear word or to ward off the perils of a sneeze.


If our preacher on 29th January chooses to follow the lectionary readings then we will hear Matthew 5:1-12, a passage known as the Beatitudes or “The Blessings” and in the two weeks that follow until it is interrupted by Lent, we will hear the beginning of Jesus teaching known as the Sermon on the Mount. These passages are key to Matthew’s telling of Jesus’ life and teaching as they speak of a community that is blessed, that knows God’s favour and spells out the ethical and moral responses expected of such a community. The first remarkable thing about this community is that many people would not look upon them
and see people who are blessed – they are broken, vulnerable, grieving, meek, angry, do-gooders – who are persecuted and insulted because of their perceived weakness. Yet they are the salt of the earth, the light of the world called to let their light shine so that goodness can be experienced and God be praised. The second remarkable thing is that the vision of what it means to live as a Blessed Community is a radical way of life that is a struggle to achieve because it involves an openness, a love, a care for people who are different from ourselves and a trust in God to care for each of us in place of material possessions.


Ghandi was one who was greatly influenced by the Sermon on the Mount, so much so that he modelled many of his teachings on non-violence upon it. The problem for Ghandi was that much of what he experienced as passing for Christianity was a negation of the Sermon on the Mount. I would love to be able to claim that was no longer so – but in reality as I look around I know that it continues to be so. So what are we to do about our own struggles to live as the community Jesus calls us to
be? I think we need to be honest with ourselves, and know the ways in which we fail one another, we need to know our own brokenness, vulnerability, grief, meekness, anger and hunger for goodness and welcome the ways in which we receive God’s blessing despite
ourselves. In such ways we might just discover the salt and light that Jesus promises and we can be a church that invites and joins with other broken, vulnerable, grieving, meek, angry, hungry people in order to know blessing and share blessing.


be blessed
Craig

Minister

August

Once upon a time August was a quiet month. I would catch up on all the admin I’d been putting off, use up some days I was owed from working days off, do some forward planning for the Autumn, I’ve even been known to plan Christmas! But this year has been a busy one, whilst at the same time, the heat has made it difficult to concentrate and get some of those tasks done.

It’s been great to welcome Grub Club to the community space for 4 weeks over the school holidays. Grub Club is primarily about ensuring that families who usually receive free school meals can get a good nutritional meal, but it also provided some time to engage in activities and model good ways to play with children.  Chris got fully involved with helping in the activities. I made sure I was around most days helping with some activities and talking with families and volunteers, We engaged with 8 families made up of 20 children aged 1-10 and served 238 meals. It was a good time, and yet we know that there are more families that would have benefited. So, in the future we need to be better at advertising and encouraging people to come along. At the same time – I really don’t want to be running Grub Clubs. In a country as wealthy as ours, people should not be needing support to feed their children. But then as Jesus said, “The poor are always with you,” and whilst they are, we need to be part of supporting short and long term solutions.

Of course, all of this happened in stifling heat. Making us reflect on another concern, that of Climate Crisis, this is not a temporary blip that we should just enjoy. This is going to become our reality, year on year and we all need to do something to cut are carbon emissions and change our lifestyle. It doesn’t help that the heat means that people are running electric fans, or air-conditioning systems – all of which create even more heat! But looking ahead, it is going to be a hard winter, many people are not going to be able to pay their fuel bills, or are going to fail to heat their homes so that they can afford meals. We have discussed whether we need to run Grub Club in all the school holidays, some people wander if we could open up some space as “Warming Rooms” especially if we have the heating on anyway. But of course, church heating bills are also going to rise and we may be faced with some hard decisions about our own finances. We live in strange times. 

At the same time, there have been some discussions with the Ukrainian community about supporting some people with a space to meet, and to help with their conversational English. We wait with interest to see what develops. Along with Grub Club, and discussions about Warming Rooms, it highlights the need for the sort of space we have available and the need for a church that is open to initiatives like this. 

1 Peter 3, says, “All of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. …  It is for this that you were called—that you might inherit a blessing.” I believe that blessing comes from being a blessing to those we engage with and letting those we work with also bless us. May we do so in love, with generous gentle hearts.

be blessed

Craig