Talk (1) – A SUITCASE

I wonder how many of you have moved house recently or perhaps just been on a vacation or a business trip. How did you find it? More precisely how did you find PACKING for your trip?

Was it a matter of grabbing a few essentials and throwing them in the case with a pair of shoes and a wash bag?

Or did you take longer to decide?

Or are you, like me, one of those people who finds packing REALLY DIFFICULT, and just can’t decide what to leave out and GRABS EVERYTHING and just shoves it into your case and then fills about 5 different bags as hand luggage?

Is there anyone here who is a really bad packer?

Is there anyone who is really good? Anyone who can travel so efficiently they can go on holiday with just a compact piece of hand luggage?

I wonder if there were a change of circumstances in your life and you had just one suitcase to put all your life into it…what would you take.

 

Video – Illustration    Up in the Air – Chapter 2 (7:28 -9:20)

In the film, Up in the Air George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham a man whose job is to fly all over the United States being employed by companies to sack their staff. He is the ‘bringer of bad news’ the guy who sits across the room from people working in companies and tells them they have lost their job. Ryan Bingham might not sound like the kind of guy you’d like to be friends with but he is a product of the modern age and he has learnt to manipulate the system to his favour by collecting AIR MILES and LOYALTY CARD POINTS. Anyone here got a club card or loyalty card?

Yet, at the same time although a selfish man he is not altogether soul-less and he has created a simple way of living in a complex world. In all his trips across the continent and after all the people he has seen face life crises as he helped let them leave their jobs, he has become a kind of philosopher and in his spare time he speaks at seminars helping people to downsize their lives.  Through his seminar entitled – “What’s in your backpack?”

Although Ryan is a slick and selfish modern company man he asks a valid and also ancient religious and philosophical question – What are we metaphorically carrying around with us? What is stopping us from being free?

Video 2 – Up in the Air – Chapter 5 (26:00 -28:22)

As the film continues he is asked to show a young woman, Natalie, a new employee of the company, and a product of the POST-modern age and digital culture, how to do his job. She and Ryan’s boss want to replace all the travelling by plane by sacking people via video link over the internet. Ryan is not impressed so the first thing he needs to show her is exactly how to travel light.

Ryan has found a way of coping with the modern world. He travels light. Has minimal commitments, minimal possessions. The story of the film is partially about thinking what is really important to us in life and to realise that we live in a time of constant flux and change – “Moving is living” Ryan says.

Most of us have possessions and earthly commitments – work, family, friends, church, homes to look after, cars to maintain. And we live in a society that encourages us to invest our lives in earthly possessions and pleasures… So, it isn’t a bad thing to ask ourselves from time to time –

What matters most to me?

What am I carrying in my bag?

…relationships or consumer objects?

Or do we carry unresolved feelings – hurts, pride, insecurities, fears, doubts, low self-esteem, worries, anger or resentment?

Do we own our possessions or do our possessions own us?

Are we free to enjoy life or do we feel burdened external pressures and internal drives?

We as a nation are wealthy compared to ancient societies, but are we any happier? Quality of life surveys tell us that we are wealthier than our grandparents and great grandparents, but less happy – why is that?

Tonight we can come to church with our hearts and bodies or our souls filled with luggage – jobs, fears, worries, pains, longings, losses… baggage weighing us down. I know that’s how I have often felt when I have come to church in the past while going through a difficult period of my life. Yet, as Christians we have a friend who has already carried our burdens for us. A friend who speaks to each of us:  

Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

 

TALK (2) – LOVING IN JANUARY:

 

How can we live peacefully with ourselves and with one another even when times are hard?

The Bridge over the last few weeks has been doing a series of talks based on the themes of a book called The Sixty Minute Family by Rob Parsons. We have called our series The Best 60 minutes with the hope that the people here can learn something about not just family life, but community life in each 60 minute presentation.  Tonight’s theme is Loving in January. It’s based on a chapter from Rob Parson’s book where he looks at relationship break downs, separations and divorces. It’s a difficult and sensitive issue for anyone to talk about, but for those who are going through it or have been through marital breakdown it holds a special kind of pain.

 

I have asked myself how can I possibly present this topic from a Biblical and Christian point of view, yet try to be understanding, forgiving, humane and compassionate. What follows are some of my thoughts, which I believe God has placed on my heart as I try to make sense of the agony of my own marriage breakdown and divorce as a Christian. I confess that I am still in a process of healing and understanding and I don’t feel I have really come to a place where I can fully explain what happened in my own life, let alone anyone else’s. So,  I hope you will bear with me as I try to put into perspective some of the forces internal and external that I believe pressure people into giving up on relationships…and also look at the way both the Bible and some modern therapists can help us face these pressures and overcome them.

I’m going to begin with the hard stuff…

Scripture Reading 2: 

James 3: 13-18

 ¹⁷But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

James 4:1-10

Submit Yourselves to God

 ¹What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ²You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. ³When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. ⁴You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? ⁶But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
   ”God opposes the proud
      but gives grace to the humble.”

 ⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

 

 

The KEY WORDS in that passage:

Part 1 – Wisdom from heaven

·         pure

·         peace-loving

·         considerate

·         submissive

·         full of mercy

·         good fruit

·         impartial

·         sincere

·         Peacemakers sow peace

·         Harvest righteousness.

 

Part 2 -What causes fights and quarrels among you?

 

·         Your desires that battle within you?

·         You want something

·         But you don’t get it.

·         You kill

·         You covet

·         You cannot have what you want.

·         You quarrel

·         You fight

·         You do not have

 

Why?

·         Because you do not ask God.

 

When you do ask…

you do not receive… Why?

 

·         Because you have  wrong motives,

 

What are the motives?

·         you may spend 

On what? Survival? Helping others? Creating a better world?

·         On your pleasures.

 

 

We live in an addicted society. Many of us…if not all of us… have some kind of addiction. These addictions effect our relationships with another and non more so than in marriage. As James asks: What causes fights and quarrels among you? Your desires that battle within you… But I ask myself, how does the culture we live within effect and manipulate the desires we feel inside us? Often, the media and society don’t help us to manage and control our desires responsibly?

 We live in A CULTURE OF CONSUMERISM

We live in A CULTURE OF CONSUMERISM – MYA – Plastic surgery company and clinic MYA – ‘Make Yourself Amazing’ encourage through glamouress advertising people, and women in particular, to feel inadequate because of their appearance. They say the solution is easy and fun - that is for women to have surgery to alter their bodies to make them ‘amazing’, but this is a terrible lie. You are ALEADY AMAZING!  From a Christian or Jewish point of view, God has made you uniquely and wonderfully. (See Psalm 139 for the wonderful way the ancient scriptures described the process of creation of each human being). In my opinion we live in a society that encourages us to fulfil our natural God given desires to be attractive and appreciated, to be loved through artificial means. Measures which are often costly and potentially dangerous and ultimately don’t take away our desire for love and affection. Both men and women are bombarded with pressures from the media to secure for themselves a ‘better’ lifestyle. Yet the Bible and Jesus teaches us to be thankful for what we have to rest in a loving relationship with God, to honour others above ourselves. The message of the Bible is submit to God, release your fears and worries to him…don’t take your life into your own hands be it your body or your needs for loving relationships and try to make it your own way. Consecrate, that is give yourself, devote yourself to God…as hard as that can be and James says God will lift you up.

A CULTURE OF ENTITLEMENT – PRINCES TUNA – Perhaps many of us would not succumb to the pressures of society to have plastic surgery, but do we feel entitled to take advantage of Nature. This week I got an email from the environmental organisation Green Peace about Princes Tuna. Apprarently, this huge fishing company is using industrial fishing methods to catch tuna that also catch wild turtles, sharks and immature tuna fish too young to be harvested. It shocked me that for perhaps 20-30pence a tin less we humans will buy cheaper tuna even though it causes many innocent, beautiful, wild sea creatures which God has made in wonder to suffer and die needlessly. I ask myself, am I so selfish to believe that my needs for cheap food are more important than protecting the glorious natural world that I believe, as a Christian, God has made.

 

IS HOW CHRISTIANITY HAS USUALLY PRESENTED SIN, SELFISHNESS AND GOD PART OF THE PROBLEM?

Perhaps, part of the problem comes from the history of Christianity and the way peoples’ relationship with God has traditionally been represented.Christianity as we have inherited it has encouraged us to see our relationship with God as one of forgiveness for Sin.

1. We sinned against God
2. God was angry with us
3. God was merciful so he sends us the LAW – the 10 Commandments
4. We can’t keep the 10 commandments by our own strength
5. God has more mercy and grace – sends His Son Jesus – to take the punishment we deserve
6. We are forgiven
7. We are reconciled to God
8. We get a ticket to heaven

But what do we DO NOW…before we die and go to heaven…

Well, we try to stay on God’s good-side…we try not to make him angry by doing our best to not break the Commandments…but we still do and then we run back to God and ask for forgiveness again…

Isn’t that what many of us do?

But that’s not what we are meant to do…that’s not what the Bible teaches us about God or about our relationship to him…

A STORY – LEARNING FROM A MONK

When I was first a Christian and I was a student in London and there was a massive old fashioned Christian bookshop nearby Regents Park, where I used to run and walk. I mean it was massive…thousands of books…old and new…And I remember once that I saw a book by a monk and I read the title of the book and I couldn’t believe it…I mean I thought it was something really ‘not-kosha’, Unorthodox’ Heretical…The title of the book was:

GOD IS NOT ANGRY

GOD IS NOT ANGRY

You see the truth is God is not angry with us anymore…we have sinned and gone against God…but God sent his Son to free us from the consequences of Sin…to take the WRATH as the Bible calls it…the ANGER of God…Jesus has already done that…so WE DON’T NEED TO WORRY ABOUTSTAYING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF GOD…BECAUSE HE LOVES US…HE LOVES US…LIKE A FATHER A CHILD…WE ARE HIS BELOVED (as Song of Songs says).

The PROBLEM IS NOT: ‘TRYING TO AVOID MAKING GOD ANGRY’…the PROBLEM IS US…inside of US…we are the angry stubborn ones, we are the ones who make life difficult for ourselves and others…it is our stubborn selfish nature which the Bible calls our ‘SARX’ or our ‘flesh’…that’s not the same as the body…it’s selfishness within us that wants to be Boss in our lives instead of being free to be a servant of God or a child playing at God’s feet we want to RULE or CONTROL our world…

So, I ask again, what is the answer?

The answer according to James is ‘submit’

Part 3 – The Solution

• Submit yourselves, then, to God.
• Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
• Come near to God and              ….he will come near to you.
• Wash your hands, you sinners
• Purify your hearts, you double-minded.
• Grieve
• mourn
• Wail
• Change
• Laughter to mourning
• Joy to gloom
• Humble yourselves before the Lord,
• …and he will lift you up

What does this mean? Practically? Spiritually?

It means…DEATH!

It means…DYING!

It means …RUNNING AWAY from the World…the TV…the internet and your e-bay account…fleeing the shopping mall…

Maybe you think this is un-Christian, maybe it sounds legalistic – it’s not meant to be legalistic… it’s meant to be HEALTHY…HEALTHY, LIFE GIVING DISCIPLINE

According to Jesus submission looks like a CROSS…it looks like DEATH…not physical death, or spiritual death, but a death to our selves…our selfish will

²³Then he said to them all: If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 

²⁴ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.

²⁵ What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? 

Luke9: 23-25

Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? 

Luke 9:23-27 (The Message)

Purgation + Consecration

 

12 STEPS PROGRAMME:

The best way the modern world has come up with to help people be set free of those selfish cravings and desires is called the 12 steps programme – It is a process used with drug addicts and alcoholics across the world. Do you know what the first steps are in this programme?

1. We admitted we were powerless over (our addiction) – that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

Effectively, they are ancient religious practices in simple, modern language… They are what James says:

Submit yourselves to God

Come near to God

Get rid of all the rubbish behaviours and ambitions in your life!

Wash your hands

Purify your hearts

How’s that going to feel?

Well, Jesus says it’s like being executed on a Cross. It’s going to feel like dying…

YET DEATH ISN’T THE END THERE IS RESURRECTION

But the GOOD NEWS for Christians is that AFTER DEATH…comes NEW LIFE…AFTER DEATH …comes RESURRECTION…after RESURRECTION …comes The COMFORTER…GOD’S SPIRIT..to help us live out this process of de-addiction…de-attachment…freedom..day by day from now until eternity…when in Heaven we will completely set free from our internal baggage forever.

Purgation + Consecration = Simplicity + Devotion

Purgation + Consecration = Emptying our suitcase of excess baggage + Embracing the Cross

In the end, the aim is freedom, life and love

Let’s pray…

by David L Fletcher