John Watson - Priest in Residence

"Come and follow me…"

Peter, James, John and Andrew working away –These words are uttered. Suddenly the choice is open – leave or stay.

Hindsight is a great blessing for we know they follow and we know the results. A journey of self-discovery, ambition redefined, God seen differently, lives turned upside down, martyrdom.

Perched between status quo and things never being the same again.

That one moment of choice – ‘Come and follow me’ simple words, radical consequences.

Brian speaks

Check out the new vids below on the left hand column - VodPod - links to some excellent videos from Brian McLaren.

see how I have clothed the lilies of the field…

This amazing flower grows in our garden – perfectly wild, dangerously free – unplanned, unlooked for, unknown until it opens – yet its presence is a joy and a delight! When it comes to faith and theology – many prefer the landscaped beauty and predictability of a well worked systematic theology, yet the freedom for surprises has gone, the weapon of the ‘hoe’ ensures that any ‘surprises’ will be absent.

I found this quote from Walter Brueggemann, a theologian full of insight, where he writes about theology needing a sense of awe – not being restricted to knowns or theories:

our technical way of thinking reduces mystery to problem, transforms assurance into certitude, revises quality for quantity, and takes the categories of biblical faith and represents them in manageable shapes…there is then no danger, no energy, no possibility, no opening for newness..(Finally comes the Poet)

I am all for learning, study and reasoning, but so often we want to draw that circle, cross that ‘t’ and dot that ‘i’ – that we lose the sense of wildness in creation, the wildness of God, and we restrict our experience of him to be all and end all.

Keep looking for surprises, keep expecting God to reveal something new. Be open to the wild side of God.

Feast days…did you know…?

Today is the feast of St James the Apostle (in the Gospels). Two things about why we celebrate feasts:

1. A reminder of those who have gone before us – inspiring and sometimes ordinary lives – even with their own weaknesses. It is a bit like the 60s Civil Rights movement in the US – where at public meetings stories of how ordinary people suffered or were victimised, or who protested, or who were jailed for standing up for their Right, were shared – ordinary lives of people doing sometimes extraordinary things in the face of Wrong.
2. Feast days multiplied in the medieval era, not only to venerate saints of old – but also act as a way of providing good food to the poor. On a feast days the rich and powerful were expected to lay on public feasts for all to enjoy. Theology invading public life in a practical and radical way.

To be inspired by ordinary stories of faith – people who are our neighbours, who live down the street, who live half way around the world - who have live and still live – is one way we can honour the work of God in our neighbour.
To open our churches and provide food for the poor is another way we can honour the presence of God in our neighbour.

Joy, Joy, Joy

A lot has been said and written about the idea of the Wrath of God over the years - but not much about the Joy of God. A little overlooked by the doom merchants - the Joy of God - speaks of God's generosity and absolute love.

I share my sermon - link below - for a little bit of a taster - but more needs to be thought and written.

Key verses: Zephaniah 3:17 and Luke 15:1-10 - who is God rejoicing over? Who is God welcoming? Who is God challenging?
Download SermonJoy.pdf

Enough is Enough

Wonderful, radical, risky passage in 2 Corinthians 8:14-15

it is a question of fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. As it is written: The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.

Paul draws on the story of the Exodus when God send Manna and quail to feed the people in the desert. And to prevent the hoarding nature of humanity, the desire to make profits at others expense – any that was collected and was not used, could not be sold the next day, as it all went rotten overnight.

God’s economics – all should have enough – which is a huge challenge to our society.

Bishop John V Taylor once wrote a book called Enough is Enough (1975) in it he writes:

‘..it is not enough to point out our idolatry of growth and the Bible’s theology of Enough; we have to opt out of the drift and help one another to live in cheerful protest against it. We have to discover what fun it can be to defy the blandishments and undermine the assumptions of the excessive consumer society.’

Come on let's give it a go!

Mind the Gap…

A report out by the JRF shows that the gap between the rich and the poor is at it widest, as is inequality. Yet the report also reveals that we in the UK are clueless as to how to address it.

Most people would say this is not news or new. And I also would add that it is not enough to shout out that we have a problem, but then offer no alternatives.

The Christian faith speaks of a generous and just God, who came in Jesus, that ALL may have life in its fullness – not just those who happen to earn £100K.

We have to stop living myopic lives and see the wider vision of a just and equal world. Christ offers a way of life that this may be possible – dare we embrace it?

The Parable of the Samaritan

I have posted my sermon this week - it's a pdf file.
Download Sermon15thJuly07.pdf

“The day lies open before us…”

This little phrase is part of the Morning Prayer liturgy we say most mornings of the week. It struck me today that this phrase offers a way into life and choice making. Choosing, after all, is the bedrock of our society.

It speaks about the day being ‘open’ – not fixed – no fate here, no predestined happenings, no closed cul-de-sacs.

The ‘day’, life, is open – where do we find God in it? Sure – a pre-planned life makes us feel safe and secure, but is it really where God is? Where does choice come into it if we are programmed? If life is set out before us where does choice become a part of that life?

Being ‘open’ is about seeing God in the journey through the day and through our life. God journeys with us – as Jesus, name, Immanuel, suggests.

Being ‘open’ is about being ready to choose things, or not to choose. When Jesus said to the rich ruler ‘come and follow me’ – the road ahead may not have been a planned one, there were plenty of unknowns, but the call was to follow none the less.

The Christian faith is not about a series of guess working about what is ahead and stepping our blindly in hope of things unseen – it is about taking risks, being open to success and failure, being open to new things, being open to seeing God in unexpected as well as expected places – but with the knowledge that God is with us – leading us by his Spirit – helping us make choices.

More on ‘choice making’ to come…..

Floody hell?

Oh dear.. The report that a Bishop has said the recent flooding in the UK is a judgement from God – which I hope has been misquoted, or at least has been taken out of context, reveals an outdated, almost Greek mythology view of God. Everyone knows newspapers produce headlines to sell rather than promote a deep discussion, so I hope that the views will be explored in more detail.

The majority of Christians do not believe that God sits in heaven working the weather to make a point. We may bring calamities upon ourselves re global warming; we may just be at the receiving end of bad planning regarding homes and a combination of freaky bad weather and bad luck. But to really suggest that this flooding is a judgement?

I do believe God does judge – he is a God of justice who hears the cry of the poor; Jesus reveals many words of judgement on those who sit in power and do nothing but help themselves; who prevent people from living full lives.

But this judgement is one which points out the deficiencies, harm, error, and real lack of humanity that is revealed on those whose lives lead to them suppress others. Not wiping them out.