Seeker

We knew him as the carpenter's son. The carpenter was Joseph, son of Jacob. You could trust him. He was a good man, was Joseph. We expected young Jesus to be a 'chip off the old block'. We thought he would go on working with his father - at the bench - or out on a building site somewhere. Then take over the business when Joseph died. But Jesus went off for a while - don't know where. We heard he wasn't working as a journeyman carpenter. He was healing and preaching. What him? the carpenter's son? When he came home, we were intrigued. We crowded into our synagogue in Nazareth to hear him. It was astounding what he said. How did he learn that at the carpenter's bench? Who is putting these ideas in his head? Yes, we did take offence. If you take what Jesus says seriously, who knows where it will end? You could trust Joseph, but Jesus? Not a chip off the old block after all. Joseph could build a table fit for a banq...

Andrew's Story It had been a long day, tiring but exciting. All the same it was a relief to set out for home that evening. Capernaum was only a short boat ride away. Our rabbi had taken himself up the mountain. We were used to him going off on his own. He seemed to need it and the crowds had got rather threatening. We left him to it. All was calm when we set sail. As darkness descended and the wind got up, the sea became really rough. So we hauled in the sails and rowed. We knew what we were doing. We're used to storms, but we didn't feel safe that night in such a small boat, thrown about by the great waves. But it wasn't the waves that terrified us. What really scared us out of our wits was what we saw that night. You're not going to believe this, but 3 or 4 miles out from shore we saw Jesus walking on the sea, coming near our boat. It was as if he were riding the waves that threatened to overwhelm us. It sounds silly to say, but it was as if even the ...

I wish I could help, but I can’t. The problem’s too big. I've only got 5 barley loaves and 2 fish. Earthquakes and tsunamis, hunger and homelessness, thirst and fear, destruction and oppression, corruption and greed, poverty and sickness. What’s the use of the little I've got? I wish I could help, but I can't. The problem's too big. I've only got 5 barley loaves and 2 fish. It would take a miracle to feed all these people. I can't do miracles. I've only got 5 barley loaves and 2 fish. What's the use of them among so many? These are all I've got for me today, with maybe a little to sell. It would take a miracle for me to give them away. I've only got 5 barley loaves and 2 fish. Not much of a feast are they? This post is the 9th in a series of Lenten reflections based on daily Bible readings from the Common Worship Lectionary of the Church of England. This one is based on the story of Jesus feeding ...

Even when I want to pray, I often feel I don't know how. Faced with disasters on a grand scale, or the smaller but just as deeply painful griefs we all encounter at some time, there just don't seem to be the right words. That doesn't matter. Prayer is about the focus of the heart, not the babbling of the mouth. Jesus taught that when we pray we shouldn't keep on babbling in the hope that God will hear because of the repetition of many words. Instead, he said - pray like this - then gave a framework or pattern for prayer which Christians call 'The Lord's Prayer'.  There are two versions of the Lord's Prayer in the gospels, one in Matthew and one in Luke.  Here's the Matthew version, from the New Revised Standard Version: Our Father in heaven,  hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done,  on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts,  as we also ...

Someone deeply distressed, wonders why God doesn't help in times of trouble. Does it mean God doesn't care?  God knows what's happening but stands aloof? "Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" (Psalm 10:1 NIV) Psalm 10 speaks about a powerful ruler who says to himself  "Nothing will shake me: I will always be happy and never have trouble" while he murders the innocent and oppresses the weak. According to the Psalmist this man has no respect for God and says to himself  "God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees." Reading this psalm, I found myself thinking about the current situation in places like Libya. The Psalm ends with an affirmation that God does see and cares about people's trouble and grief: "You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry". When I read this, my thoughts were of the catastroph...

painting by Jan Sanders van Hemmeson Tax collectors aren't popular, except when they're giving out an unexpected rebate. There was once a tax collector called Levi. He sat at his desk in the customs and excise office, when Jesus turned up and said, 'follow me'. Levi wasn't someone you'd expect a rabbi like Jesus to choose. Although Levi (aka Matthew) was a Jew he would assume he was disqualified from following a religious teacher. Tax collectors were despised by other Jews, hated as traitors, collaborators with the occupying power. They were shunned as ceremonially unclean, banned from public worship and (like women) viewed as unreliable witnesses in court. In a corrupt system tax collectors charged commission on top of due rates. They were known to be unscrupulous extortioners. When Jesus saw Levi, he saw all this. Did he see something more? Levi's longing to find more meaning to life than building up a fat personal pension? His hunger for God? Whe...

Reflection on John 4: 1-26 The hostility between Judeans and Samaritans was several centuries old when Jesus, a Jew, met a Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well. It was mid-day – not a good time for water-carrying. Women went to the well together, in early morning or evening. Did this woman go at noon to avoid the unkindness of other women who despised her lifestyle? How did she feel when the Jewish man sitting at the well spoke to her?  A good male Jew might speak alone with a close female relative in public, but to do so with a female stranger, it might be assumed he was making a sexual proposition. When Jesus said “give me a drink.” he was inviting the woman to take the risk he was taking, of crossing religious, political and cultural boundaries and taboos. He was thirsty. She had a bucket. Jesus didn’t comment on her need, only his need for water. By reaching out to her from his need, Jesus gave her dignity. She could do something for him. An...

What matters most to you? When faced with terminal illness, the fatalities of a disaster, or attend a funeral, we're reminded of human frailty, the brevity of life. Sometimes that creates a determination to make the most of life or make things better for others. Today Lent begins, a time to re-focus on what matters most, a time for honest appraisal of who we are and what God calls us to be. If you take part today in an Ash Wednesday service which includes the imposition of ashes, you will be invited to receive a stark reminder of who you are with words like these, "remember that you are dust,   and to dust you shall return." The sign drawn with ash on the forehead is more than a sign of penitence and a symbol of mortality, it's a sign of hope. The ash (mixed with oil) is drawn in the shape of a cross, the sign of Christ, a badge of discipleship and reminder of his death for the sins of the whole world. Words like these are also said over each person receivin...