Finding your work

May I speak in the name of the one God, who is Speaker, Word and Breath.

Stu mentioned a couple of weeks ago about the theme running through our readings and sermons recently around faith and acts – the belief that if our faith really reflects who God is, that will then be reflected in how we conduct ourselves in the world- the people we are, the things we do, the decisions and choices we make.

This seems to neatly come together this morning in probably the most famous example of loving action, the tale of The Good Samaritan – and it is a tale rather than a parable. There’s nothing in it that’s metaphorical, it’s very clear. It’s our job to be merciful, compassionate neighbours in the world.

Those of us who’ve been or are nurses will know there’s two types of nurse; if when you’re going about you normal life there’s some sort of medical emergency – someone collapses in the middle aisle of Aldi - and there’s a shout for medical help, are you the nurse who immediately runs forward, or the nurse who waits 10 seconds to see if someone else runs goes first?

I’m definitely in the second camp, I’m a fantastic nurse in a hospital-based emergency, but out in the wild is a different matter! I think the older and wiser we get the less likely we are to immediately jump in there – with age and wisdom we recognise our limits.

Or maybe we recognise what is ours to do and what isn’t. An up to date first aider might actually be more useful in that situation than someone who’s used to being surrounded by all the help and equipment you could wish for.

That level of self-reflection isn’t, as far as we know, seen in our priest and Levite this morning. They’re not waiting to see if someone else jumps in, thinking if someone else doesn’t step forward then they will, or reflecting there may be someone better equipped, it’s a very clear head down, walk-on-by scenario.

We’ve heard this story so many times - I can remember at priest school having an activity where we re-wrote it in a modern setting - but examining the story through our current lens, reflecting upon faith leading us into action, why did these people of faith not act? Considering this might help us to understand the times when we ourselves have felt we could do nothing but look the other way, despite our faith in God.

Fear could be one answer. What if he’s contagious? They may not have looked closely enough to see he’d been attacked – they just see a man lying there, half dead. He could have a contagious illness. If they catch it and become sick who’ll provide for their families? They have important jobs and responsibilities. Who’ll see to those?

There could be the fear that it’s a trap. If this area is renowned for attacks, it may be known that this is one way the thieves operate to lure in victims.

There’s Mosaic law to consider – if the man is dead, and they can’t tell at this point – if they touch him, they can’t do their jobs for 7 days, they’ll be ritually unclean. They can’t let that happen, again they’re important, relied upon. They’re men that matter.

Another explanation could just be complacency -how often do they see bodies or people collapsed by the side of the road? It could be over-saturation, compassion fatigue. Maybe they’ve stepped in before and it cost them in some way, maybe they see so many people collapsed along that road that if they stopped to help everyone they’d never get anywhere.

So we have fear, personal cost and complacency. I’m not going to lie, that sounds pretty familiar to me at the moment. Whilst writing this there was a charity advert on the TV in the background which I’ve seen dozens of times – a young boy in an African country at the risk of going blind. If I stop to actually pay attention to it, think of the enormity of the issue it's implications, It’ll break my heart. Sometimes we feel we have to protect ourselves from feeling empathy because it could break us.

We do have to have boundaries and protect ourselves from over-saturation of media and news and sadness, just so we can go about our lives. If we let every awful thing we have knowledge about into our hearts we’d be paralysed by not only the sadness but the knowledge that we simply can’t help every person or situation we’d like to. There’re things that are just too big for us to tackle or effect. Those in need are simply too numerous.

How does this fit with our theology of faith leading to action? How can we navigate this alongside our belief in the universal neighbourhood? The whole point of Jesus telling this tale is to help the young lawyer see that anyone who needs our mercy, or who shows us mercy, is our neighbour, and there’s a big scary world our there very much in need of mercy.

I read something by the wonderful Revd. Nadia Bolz-Weber a couple of years ago – I was actually talking to Joanne about this yesterday – to summarise, as I can’t find the actual quote, Nadia wrote that the way we’ve been created, and the world be now inhabit are out of alignment. We we’re created to be people of community and created to be able to carry the worries, concerns, anxieties and stresses of that community, or village or tribe.

With 24-hour news cycles, our connectedness and the global nature of modern life we’re trying to carry the worries, concerns, anxieties and stresses of an entire world, and we simply can’t do it, we’re not built for it…so what do we do?

Seeing the suffering and looking away, turning a blind eye, isn’t an option, because we see our neighbours, those in need of mercy, and our hearts ache for them, because we are people of faith, people who hunger and thirst after righteousness, people who like the Samaritan of the story are moved from our very guts with compassion- that’s the literal translation of the Greek – compassion you feel in your spleen.

Nadia Bolz-Weber also has this to share when it comes to the burn-out that can come from carrying global sorrows in our heads and hearts:

Every day of my life I ask myself three discernment questions:

What’s MINE to do, and what’s NOT mine to do?

What’s MINE to say and what’s NOT mine to say?

And the third one is harder:

What’s MINE to care about and what’s NOT mine to care about?

To be clear – that is not to say that it is not worthy to be cared about by SOMEONE, only that my effectiveness in the world cannot extend to every worthy to be cared about event and situation. It’s not an issue of values, it’s an issue of MATH.

It’s ok to do what is YOURS to do. Say what’s yours to say. Care about what’s yours to care about. That’s enough.

This is all part of being the body of Christ; we each have our role, our separate functions that ensure the body keeps working and moving.

The hope is that if we’re each finding out what work is ours to do, then all the things which need work, the peoples and situations that require our mercy, that require someone to be a neighbour, will eventually have people, enough people, and the right people, whose work it is to be a Christ-like, spirit-filled presence there.

We won’t need to fear, worry about the personal cost or feel complacent in the suffering we see, we won’t need to cross over, pretending we don’t see what’s happening, because someone will already be there, tending the wounds, and we’ll be tending to the wounds we’re called to bandage.

And if we’re outraged by a situation and asking where the mercy is, where the neighbours are, then maybe that’s a sign of the work which is ours to do.

I’m sure you all know that one of my great passions is inclusion – not just inclusion but belonging. I want anyone to walk through that door and feel they belong. That’s part of my work.

My years as a nurse have led me into my current role in staff support and improving culture. That’s part of my work.

Your work might be speaking out against the Palestinian genocide, standing with refugees, fighting for the rights and inclusion of older people, working to support our local domestic abuse charity.

Where is God calling you to carry Gods name and do Gods work? Where are you moved to your spleen with compassion? Listen to the calling and the feelings, if you’re coming back to the same issue or situation time and time again, chances are that’s the work God is showing you is yours.

See it as an invitation, or even a challenge from God. Identify where you’re being called, answer that call, and start the work. Amen

Advent word - Listen

As Christian's we're sometimes more inclined to talk than listen - we have something wonderful to share, something we think everyone should know - yet it's more important to listen. Listen to our communities, listen to the people in our parishes. Find out people's stories, find out their needs. If all the church does is talk then what good are we? Our faith should move us into action.

On the cross, exposed and vulnerable, Jesus draws the whole world in a loving embrace. Everything hangs, everyone is the  held here. Jesus holds the people of Charlestown and Ferguson and Baltimore and all around the globe. Jesus listens to the grieving and grappling, the terrorized and troubled, the frightened and crying. Jesus listens to all the heartache, all the questions. On the cross Jesus bears the weight, the weight of the world, holding us all in his wounded hands.

-Br. Luke Ditewig

17th December

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” -Luke 2:13-14

The heavenly host appear, providing an x-factor esque gospel back up to our main angel? Possibly. It's a timely reminder of the need for back up- a team of folk behind you who have your back, look out for you and who you do likewise for. This might be in your work (essential in healthcare!), your family, your friendship groups or your church.
I'm blessed in all these areas. I work in an acute and stressful healthcare setting where the cohesion of the team is essential, I'd be lost without my family- especially my parents, my friends always come through when I need them, my church family are amazing and my college mates keep me just the right side of sane.
What I'm not good at is remembering all this. As a bit of a control freak I always try to deal with stuff on my own, not always very successfully. When I remember that I have back up and use it amazing things happen, and I see God at work in the people I'm so blessed to have in my life.

2nd December

The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” -Luke 1:28

This must have been terrifying for Mary, but in the gospel account she appears to take it all in her stride! Was she really so calm, serene and obedient? Did she feel the Lord with her and did it make her fear subside? During the tough and scary times it's hard to always be aware of God being alongside us, sometimes it's not until afterwards we can discern that he was near by. If we know someone is struggling this Advent they may have no sense of God being close, so part of our call is to journey with them too. Maybe God will use us to give them courage.

When is Faith Not Enough?

I delivered this sermon on the 6th Sept at our main morning service. I was a little concerned as we had a surprise baptism but it was really well received by the family.

The readings it's based upon are Isaiah 35:4-7a, Psalm 146, James 2:1-10, 14-17 and Mark 7:24-end

Thursday morning was a pretty emotional one for several reasons. For many of our local children, including my son Jacob, it meant a return to school. For several of our St Michael’s family- George, Amelia, Sarah-Jane and Amber- it was their first day at secondary school.

When I clicked on to Facebook, as I often do first thing in the morning, my timeline was filled with photos of my friend’s children in smart, clean, new uniforms all ready for the school run. I always find this emotional- seeing children I’ve known since being babies starting school, moving on to the next year group and moving on to new schools. It’s particularly poignant this year as my daughter Faith starts high school tomorrow.

There were however two things which contrasted with the flurry of new term activity. The first was from my friend whose son started reception this week. He has an as yet undiagnosed developmental delay and my friend’s one wish for her son’s first year at school is for him to be able to say his first words.

For me this put into context all the worry we go through over which school our children will be going to, where they’ll get the best opportunities, what their SAT results will be, when all my friend wishes is to hear her son speak.

It’s a reminder that every child is beautiful, unique and to be valued and loved. They each grow and develop in their own unique way and all that perhaps really matters is that they know they are loved and valued and that we enable them to love and value others in return.

But there was another picture of a child that filled my computer and TV screen on Thursday. It was of a three year old boy called Aylan Kurdi whose body had washed up upon a Turkish beach after he, along with his five year old brother Galip and mother Rihan, drowned when the dingy they were fleeing the Syrian town of Kobane in capsized.

I’m sure many of you have seen these pictures- and there’s an argument to be had about whether they should have been shared. If you haven’t seen the pictures you may have read or listened to this family’s story and felt the same emotions I felt- dis-ease, dis-comfort, sadness, helplessness and some guilt as well.

Every child should be valued and loved. As I was expressing my love for my children by readying them for the new school term, Rihan Al-Kurdi was expressing hers by fleeing from Syria. That decision cost their lives but as I’ve heard repeated so many times this week- you would only put your child in the boat if it was safer than staying on the land.

These pictures have given a name and a face to the continuing refugee crisis in Europe which has often been portrayed in a very different way by the mainstream media.

If anything even remotely positive can be taken from such a devastating loss of young lives it will hopefully be a shift in our national perspective to see these families in a different way- not as migrants moving west in search of jobs, affluence and a better standard of living but as people forced to flee or face horrors in their daily lives that we can only imagine.

In our church we’ve prayed many times for the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. We’ve prayed for those who are trying to live with it daily and for those who, like Aylan and his family, have died trying to escape from it.

Our reading from James today outlines a key theme of his epistle, one which has caused a lot of friction over the centuries in its apparent contradiction of the writings of Paul. When is faith not enough? Paul writes that faith alone marks us out as belonging to Christ, but James is passionate in his belief that if faith is genuine it will outwardly change us and our behaviour, leading us to perform good or charitable works. He asks us what’s the point of our blessing someone when what they really need is food because they’re starving to death. He goes as far as calling it sinful to bless a starving person instead of feeding them. It’s strong stuff.

James writes to a congregation showing favouritism to the rich, clean and healthy yet God does not show favouritism- a belief shared by the woman who approaches Jesus in the gospel reading. Jesus is quite alarming – even rude- in his first response, comparing gentiles to dogs, evoking the superiority of Israel’s claim to God’s blessing, but I can’t help but feel he’s trying to get a response from her, which he does. She has faith that God’s blessing is for her too.

In the passage just before this Jesus has been teaching about pulling down the barriers between Jews and gentiles, and here he puts it into practice. This is Jesus not just talking but acting- doing the thing he’s previously preached about.

A gentile is blessed by Jesus’ action- given equality with God’s chosen people. Jesus goes on to heal a deaf man. We’re not told if he’s a Jew or a gentile but the area he’s in is mainly non-Jewish.

Isaiah tells us what God has in store for those he blesses- eyes opened, ears unstopped, lame leaping and speechless singing. Whether these are physical or spiritual disabilities what’s promised is the restoration of wholeness to those deprived of the fullness of humanity- both physically and spiritually.

This restoration to wholeness is developed further in the psalm- Our God executes justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry, sets the prisoners free, opens the eyes of the blind, lifts up those who are bowed down, loves the righteous and watches over the strangers.

In the Gospel Jesus in fulfilling this by his actions and God’s blessings are poured down upon all equally. We’re all equal and we all deserve God’s blessings and to be able to enjoy the beauty and diversity of His creation, whether we’ve been born into a comfortable and peaceful life in England or a dangerous and war damaged one in Syria.

My dilemma this week has been is MY faith enough, are my prayers enough? And if not what can I do? What action is in my power that reflects the weight upon my conscience as I look at the pictures Aylan? What can I do for the refugees who ARE the oppressed, the hungry, the bowed low and the strangers whom God blesses?

There are practical things that can be done such as supporting charities who work to help refugees, donating money and supplies and asking questions of those in power as to how we as a nation can realistically respond to the crisis.

Politically this is very complex – but I’ve been reminded many times this week of our national response to the post second would war refugee crisis, where richer countries came to an agreement on supporting the refugees the war had created. We acted out of compassion, we acted because it was the right thing to do. 

A chaplain once told me that James was the epistle of chaplains, which might be why today’s reading really resonates with me. James urges his congregation to treat the poor, dirty and sick with equity to the rich, clean and healthy. He urges them to meet the bodily needs of those who are suffering before their spiritual ones.

Is this how we should think about the refugee crisis? Are there times when we’re called to offer more than our prayers?

Prayer is important, it connects us to God. It develops our relationship with God. Intercessory prayer connects us to the world around us. Sometimes it’s the only way we can respond to the painful things we see in the world. We pray because we have faith that God responds. But faith is more than prayer, it’s more than what we do here on a Sunday. Being here refreshes and sustains us but what our faith does is take us out of here into the world to respond to what we find there.

When we see people deprived of the fullness of humanity, like Jesus we must back up what we pray for by our actions, remembering God’s blessing is for each one of us equally.

When God’s blessing is at work in the world, through us, we’ll see justice for the oppressed, the hungry fed, prisoners freed, eyes opened, the bowed down lifted up, and the strangers watched over.

Think of Others More

I was actually on the receiving end of today's task as my family did jobs at home I would usually do whilst I was at work. The week being what it has means the house was in even more chaos than usual and my kids and husband did their best to get things back in order.
It was so lovely to come home to find they'd been able to complete some of the tasks that needed doing- it took a weight off my mind and took a bit of my stress away.
To have someone lend a much needed or unexpected hand can make all the difference to your day- we know that as nurses. Someone doing just one thing on your 'to do' list can make the difference between a smooth day and a stressful one.
We're not always good at asking for the help we need- or noticing when others are in need of our help. We need to get better at saying when we're struggling, but also at picking up the ques from those around us who we can help but who may not, like us, be good at saying so.

Romans 12:10
love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour.

Time

I would so love to be able to complete today's task, but I'm too busy! It feels like an excuse, but I'm spread so thinly I don't know how I could even begin to think about sparing time.
Today I took the children to school, wrote a 1500 word essay, took part in the work Christmas quiz (ok, that was a lot of fun) and wrote prayers for tomorrow morning's service. That's a pretty normal day!
I've written before about being "time poor" and not feeling like we're giving enough time to certain things or people can result in a lot of guilt. We're just trying our best, and God knows that.

Think of others more

I sort of messed up on today's task by having a selfish day by default. We were supposed to do a job someone else usually does.
It was Mother's Day- yes I know that's tomorrow, but it was my Mother's Day, as inevitably I always end up working on Mothering Sunday.
I had planned on doing the washing as it's a job my mum always does, and I did get as far as putting the washing in the machine and switching it on! Half a job done.
The kids fed the dog, and Mike filled up my fuel tank, tyres and oil.
I'm not always good at thinking about the people around me- I can really take them for granted- but I love them, and I really appreciate them, even if I'm not very good at showing it.