Blog
I listened to an interview this week with the current vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton, Archie Coates (HTB is the church in London which launched the Alpha course and it was, until recently, led by Nicky Gumbel). The interviewer reflected on the daunting task of following an international figure like Gumbel and in responding Coates spoke a little about his daily devotional practice.
The apostle Paul often uses athletic or sporting images to make his point. In his first letter to the Corinthian church, he writes about our attitude as followers of Jesus - he says we should run not just as participants, but instead aiming to winning the race; that we should submit to strict discipline, like a boxer training for a title fight (1 Cor 9:24-27).
Two people who are in love like to walk hand in hand or link arms - one of them will probably have to walk slower or faster to fall in step with the other one. They do it willingly because they enjoy each other’s company and want to be close.
“Keys, phone, purse …” So often before we leave home we check to make sure that we have these items. Many of us have constant thoughts about things we need to do to ensure that we have prepared adequately for the day ahead. Jesus sends us out with less, inviting us to trust, to be ready to engage with and respond to the activities and events in the world around us.
We remember the time when the two sisters welcomed Jesus into their home and Martha was kept busy with practical household arrangements while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and listened. Martha and Mary personify two postures: active service and quiet contemplation respectively.
This week, the press has been nervously pointing out how fragile our new government is. I was so frustrated to hear Helen Zille's provocative remarks in a recent interview - I found myself wondering if the perceived arrogance of her position was going to derail this hopeful thing that was taking shape in South Africa.
Our worship commission met for the first time this week. Our aim is to think creatively about our three worship services and consider how we can do everything possible to help people to encounter God in worship. When I asked the group what we value most about our experience of corporate worship, it was striking that the responses had nothing to do with the quality of music or preaching or anything like that, but we said that what we really longed for was to see all our people participating actively in worship and meeting with God (and we recognised that that encounter with God can take place in so many different ways).
On Sunday some 23 000 athletes of all shapes and sizes will start the Comrades Marathon in Durban. Choosing to run this race is not something that any of them decided spontaneously some time last week :) The Comrades requires many months (or even years) of careful planning and intentional action. In a society that prizes quick fixes and instant solutions, the Comrades runners are our heroes - they are committed to the long, slow journey.
We are certainly in for interesting times, but I am hopeful that the shakeup of our politics may yet be a really good thing for our country. As we enter an era of coalition politics, we should see much less power concentrated in the hands of the few, and our politicians will be obliged to work together across party lines if our nation is to move forward. There will be greater accountability with coalition partners watching each other closely, and hopefully a maturing in the South African political space.
It's a story that is so familiar to Methodists: On 24 May 1738 John Wesley went "unwillingly" to a meeting of a small church (society) in Fetter Lane, London. There he heard a lay preacher reading from the preface to Luther's commentary on the book of Romans, and, as he listened, Wesley felt a strong sense of assurance - the confidence that he was forgiven and accepted by God. He wrote of the experience that his "heart was strangely warmed".