Posts

First

Image
He appointed Simon (3:16) Tuariki Delamere invented the front-flip long jump. There is only one grainy video of him performing the jump at a regional competition. It was immediately banned as too dangerous and no one has heard of him. Dick Fosbury invented the back-flip high jump. His technique is used by every top high jumper at every significant event. He won an Olympic gold medal and his name is written into history as the Fosbury flop. The difference? Not risk. The actual risk of a broken neck is probably higher in a back-flip than a front-flip. No. Timing! Delamere revealed his at a small local competition so it could easily be banned. Fosbury revealed his at the Olympics. If Delamere had done the same he would be an Olympic gold medalist and everyone would be doing a front-flip long jump, the Delamere roll. Peter is first in the list of apostles because he became the leader of the first church. He seems to have been appointed as such by Jesus. Why? Well I suppose you could say ti
2 comments
Read more

Light

Image
To drive our demons (3:15) This is the third of the three purposes of the apostles. First they are to be witnesses (be with him), second they are to proclaim what they see in public (preach) and third they are to 'drive out demons'. This triplet suggests a process. First see Jesus, second speak of Jesus and third, by such means, conquer evil. In a high security prison in Brasil, two inmates were fascinated by the devil. One volunteered to come off drugs so that he could find out everything he could about the devil from reading the Bible. As he read, he saw Christ, turned to follow Christ and was changed beyond all recognition. The evil that had ruled his life was gone. He told his friend, who also came to Christ. They told the other prisoners who also came to Christ. Eventually the prison was so changed that it ceased to be a high security prison and became an open prison, where the prisoners could go home for the day only to return at night. Cells were no longer locked and the
Post a Comment
Read more

Being me

Image
To be with him (3:14) Have you noticed how people naturally imitate others? We pick up strong accents, copy body language, and imitate mannerisms. When I worked for a London church as a toilet cleaner, I noticed how all the senior staff started to sound just like the church's famous preacher. At the time I found it amusing but now it just seems natural. When Jesus draws his disciples to himself it is with a similar intention. As he travels, speaks, heals, and suffers and dies he wants them with him so they have an example to follow. When we read these stories we often focus on the people Jesus meets, forgetting those he always has with him, who are his main concern. Is it wrong to imitate another? Well, if it involves pretending to be someone you're not I'm not sure it's at all wise. But to imitate Christ is to become more yourself, not less. I'm not sure quite how that works but there's something about gazing on the likeness of God that sets us free to be the p
Post a Comment
Read more

Climb up

Image
Those he wanted (3:13) We all want to get selected for the team. It goes back to lining up on the school playground wall while the captains choose. Oh not to be last! I was last once - new school and me skinny and shy. It didn't feel nice and I cannot imagine what it is like to be always the unpicked one. With Jesus it wasn't anything like this bad. He chose a few out of many, so the unselected were in a significant majority. Still, it must have been nice to be chosen. That is until you realised quite what you were chosen for. To lead the future church, for sure, but also, with a lone exception, to die a martyr's death. That's why it was a high mountain. No wonder Judas opted out. You see, to go up a high mountain is to make the ascent to God - to chose to put God above all else. As the Psalmist writes, 'lead me to the mountain that is higher than I', take me to the place where my own concerns disappear in the face of the call of God. This is the test for all vo
Post a Comment
Read more

Keep the rules

Image
Strict orders (3:12) Am I alone in being attracted to the flouting of petty rules? Those sad little 'no turning in the drive' notices make me itch for a reason to do a u-turn. And those seemingly endless 'do not touch', 'do not walk', 'do not park' 'do not look' (?) notices you get in city parks and streets produce new ambitions I never knew I had. It makes me realise that, when it comes to rules, most of us need to know the why in order to keep them properly. That's why the 70 mph motorway speed limit is so often flouted. On some motorways it is too fast for safety, but on an empty road in a modern car it is too restrictive. The why is arbitrary and deep down we all know it. So why does Jesus silence those he heals. Is it to avoid even bigger crowds? Possibly but the secret seems to be out. It is more likely to be who they would tell and how those people would use it. He does not want the authorities to have a reason to destroy him, or to mi
Post a Comment
Read more

Visible to all

Image
They fell down (3:11) Here we seem to have what is called possession in modern mythology: an evil spirit has full control of a person's body. We know this because Mark describes the unclean spirit as falling down, when it must have been a human being actually grazing their knees on the ground.  I cannot pretend to find this an easy read and I have not come across anything like this myself. However I do have friends I trust who could tell a story or two, so I am loathe to reject it out of hand. I have read those learnėd commentaries that try and filter out all the less believable stuff in the gospels, but they are even less believable than the stuff they filter out, being founded on the 'we know better now' principle that would see Jesus turned into a rather pale imitation of Gandhi. No, I'm pretty sure we must deal with the text as it is, and either accept it or reject it wholesale, not cherry-pick the bits we like or find acceptable or fit our preferred reconstruction.
Post a Comment
Read more

Wait

Image
Pushing forward (3:10) I wonder if you have been following all the arguments about who gets the vaccine first. I can't say I've been meticulous about keeping up with it all but practically every time I turn on the radio or click on Facebook some group or other is arguing that they should push to the front of the queue. Now it seems to me that each and every one of them has a good reason to be getting the jab first, but that no one has tried to answer the obvious question: who should get it later? When you push to the front of a queue someone has to wait longer. Indeed in a queue for limited tickets, someone has to miss out altogether. That may not be much of a problem when it comes to a Duran Duran concert, but it's a bit more serious if it means someone misses out on life.  Now, it's not a time to sit in judgement. When food is offered to a starving crowd it is not surprising if everyone finds a good reason to get it first. We all long to get that vaccination soon, esp
Post a Comment
Read more