Locked Doors, Car Horns and Impatience

Today I decided to walk to church.

Normally, whether I'm leading worship and preaching or just attending worship, I go by car.  This is justifiable when I'm taking a service because the churches are often too far away to walk to in a sensible time, but perhaps less so when I'm attending worship at Poulton Methodist Church which is about fifteen minutes walk away.

This morning I decided to walk, partly because the rest of my family needed to be there early to practice things and I would have been at a bit of a loose and.  I was about half way to church when one of the church members saw me walking and stopped to offer me a lift the rest of the way.  She stopped on a bend, which was where I happened to be, which of course meant that the cars behind her had to stop too.  The rear car door was locked and the passenger couldn't get it unlocked, so it took about a minute for the door to be unlocked and me to get in the car.

One minute!  Sixty seconds!  Hardly a significant period of time, yet the driver behind my benefactor began blowing her horn aggressively and making some very obsene gestures.  I appreciate that she was held up and very, very slightly inconvenienced, but was such a display of outright aggression really necessary?  She may well have had good reason for being frustrated at being delayed; but unless the circumstances are exceptional how much difference could sixty seconds make?

Those who know me well will know that I am not exactly the most patient person behind the wheel of a car and may even at this point be ready to level a charge of hypocricy at me.  They have a point; but today's incident really made me think about how bad a witness I can be to Christ when I'm behind the wheel of a car because I too have lost my temper when somebody has delayed my journey by a very small amount of time.  

I have often said I won't have a fish on my car because I would be such a bad witness for Christ.  Well, I;m going to buy that fish because it will remind me to be a Christian when I'm driving; it will remind me that there is no area of our lives that God isn't concerned about and no area of our lives where we can say, "Right now, I'm not a good witness."

Judgement of The Sheep & Goats

Please read Matthew 25:31-46

Judgement!  What comes into your mind when I say the word ‘judgement’ to you?

Perhaps you think of a court trial.  Of a jury deciding if somebody is innocent or guilty and a man or woman in a white wig and long red robes passing sentence on a convicted criminal.  You may think of the word in a different context, every day we make judgements about things, whether it is judging the safe speed to drive our cars, deciding how much food it is sensible to eat or deciding what clothes it is appropriate to wear for a particular social occasion.  Every day, from hour to hour and sometimes from moment to moment we make decisions or judgements about things.  Some of these judgements don’t matter very much at all.  At the end of the day it doesn’t matter too much if we choose the wrong coloured tie or the wrong handbag.  Some of the judgements we make in life are very important; judgements like what career we should follow, who we marry and, most important of all, whether or not we become a Christian.

Judgement is part of all our lives, but how often do we think of judgement in a Christian context in this day and age?  Judgement is not something we talk about much in churches these days.  Back in the ancient mists of time preachers thundered about hellfire and damnation with much pulpit thumping and shouting and warning of the judgement to come.  I remember hearing about one preacher who noticed a member of his congregation had nodded off mid sermon.  He suddenly shouted “Fire!  Fire!”  The man woke up suddenly and looked round in confusion.  “Where’s the fire!”  The preacher looked at him sternly and bellowed “In Hell!”  Today we hear very little on the subject of judgement; perhaps because we are worried about putting people off church, perhaps because we don’t like to think about it too much or perhaps because it frightens us.  Yet judgement is very much a part of the Christian message and it is something we must consider if we are to truly understand the gospel.

Our passage this morning is about judgement.  It is often referred to as the ‘Parable of The Sheep and the Goats’ but in actual fact it is not so much a parable as a vision of the future.  It is a vision of Jesus return to earth in his glory.  It comes after warnings from Jesus about the end times and a series of parables concerning his Second Coming.  It concerns the final judgement when Jesus decides who will receive the reward of eternal life in heaven and who will receive eternal punishment.

Taken in isolation our text gives the impression that we are saved from eternal punishment by caring for the poor and needy.  This passage seems to advocate the idea that we are saved by our actions, which is contrary to all that we have been taught about being saved by faith in Jesus.

In fact if we look at the passage in context it is clear that this is not what it is saying.  All the parables about the end times in Matthew 24 and 25 focus on the person of Jesus, and this passage is no exception.  In fact this passage tells us three very important things about Jesus.

The first thing it tells us is that Jesus will come in his glory.  We know from scripture that the Second Coming of Jesus will be sudden, unexpected and decisive.  We are told that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  We are warned that we must be ready, like the wise virgins who were prepared for the coming of the bridegroom.  Even Jesus himself does not know when it will be.  Earlier in Matthew’s gospel he said, “Yet about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, not even the Son; no one but the Father alone.”  Jesus could return whilst we are sitting here in Bispham Methodist Church this morning, or it could be a thousand years before he sets foot on earth again, we really don’t know, but we must be ready in case he does return in our lifetime.

I have seen quite a few television programmes in the past few months trying to cast doubt on the whole idea of the Second Coming of Jesus.  All these programmes have attempted to cast doubt on the Book of Revelation by claiming that it is not about the end of time at all but is a coded reference to contemporary events in the late first century.  As such, these programmes claim, any ideas of a return to earth by Jesus or a final judgement are pure hogwash.  There are two responses to this.  The first is that even if, as some scholars suggest, the book of Revelation is a coded reference to events in the first century that does not prevent it being a prophecy of the future as well.  The second is that even if the book of Revelation does not contain visions of the future, the idea of the Second Coming of Jesus and the final judgement is not proved false.  Jesus himself spoke of his return to earth in glory in chapter thirteen of Mark’s gospel and the parallel chapter twenty four of Matthew’s gospel.  The Apostle Paul refers to Christ’s Second Coming in several of his letters.  The return of Jesus is part of the Christian creed.  In our communion service we say “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.”  Jesus is coming again and his coming will bring judgement and an end to history as we know it.

The second thing this passage tells us is that in a very real sense Jesus has never gone away.  Jesus is here in this world with us right now.  But this passage goes further; it tells us that Jesus is amongst us in disguise.  Jesus clearly says to the sheep, those who are to receive the gift of eternal life, “For when I was hungry you gave me food; when thirsty you gave me drink; when I was a stranger you took me into your home; when naked you clothed me; when I was ill you came to my help; when in prison you visited me.”  When he was undertaking his earthly ministry Jesus identified himself with the needy, the diseased, the lonely and the outcasts so is it any surprise that he should come to us in the guise of one in need?

Francis of Assisi was riding one day when he met a man disfigured by leprosy.  Francis was moved to dismount and hug the poor man.  As he did so, the face of the leprosy sufferer changed into the face of Christ.

Martin of Tours, the patron saint of France, was a Roman soldier and a Christian.  One freezing day a beggar asked him for alms.  Martin had no money but, seeing how cold the man was, he ripped his soldier’s cloak in two and gave one half to the beggar.  That night he had a dream.  He saw Jesus in the courts of heaven, wearing half his cloak.  He heard an angel ask, “Master, why are you wearing that battered old cloak?  Who gave it to you?”  Jesus replied, “My servant Martin gave it to me.”

The third thing this passage tells us is that Jesus will judge us and that the basis of that judgement will be how we have responded to him.  It appears to be suggesting, as I mentioned a few minutes ago, that we are saved on the basis of whether we have cared for the poor and needy, but that is simply not the case. 

The whole basis of the Christian message is that we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Jesus himself said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except by me.” 

Jesus also said, “God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, that everyone who has faith in him may not perish but have eternal life.  It was not to judge the world that God sent his son into the world, but that through him the world might be saved.  No one who puts his faith in him comes under judgement; but the unbeliever has already been judged because he has not put his trust in God’s only Son.  This is the judgement: the light has come into the world, but people preferred darkness to light because their deeds were evil.  Wrongdoers hate the light and avoid it, for fear their misdeeds should be exposed.  Those who live by the truth come to the light so that it may be clearly seen that God is in all they do.”

Both these quotes are from John’s gospel.  The second is a long one, but it’s worth quoting because it provides clarification of this passage and of the judgement of Jesus.

The first thing to notice is that there is no real judgement involved as such; we have either accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and become Christian, in which case we receive the reward of eternal life or we have not put our faith in Jesus in which case we will go to eternal punishment.  It is as simple and stark as that!

The second thing to notice is that Jesus words from John’s gospel explain perfectly why Jesus is appearing to judge us on what we have done.  If we are sheep who have cared for the poor and needy we receive eternal life, if we are goats who have ignored the needs of others we receive eternal punishment.  It is not so much that our deeds or lack of them lead to reward or punishment, it is the fact that if we have genuinely and sincerely decided to follow Jesus as Lord we will be doing these things, they are a sign of genuine Christian discipleship.   As Jesus said, “Those who live by the truth come to the light so that it might be clearly seen that God is in all they do.  As James put it in his epistle, “faith without works is dead.”  If our dedication to Jesus is genuine it will be demonstrated by the way we live our lives.

Some Christians don’t like the idea of the judgement; they don’t like the idea that only those who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour will receive the reward of eternal life.  Some would even go so far as to say that all religions are valid, that all roads lead to God and that Christianity is but one road.  I wish that I could believe that this is true, but I just can’t.  Jesus quite clearly said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except by me.”

Often we wish this were not so because we know somebody who has died who apparently was not a Christian.  This is a problem for me as family members I cared about very much died and were apparently not Christians.  I talked to an old minister about this and he gave me some wonderful words of reassurance.  He said that basically we do not know if people are Christians or not, that deathbed conversions are possible and that we receive God’s forgiveness and love even if we come to Jesus in those last moments of our lives.  It is not for us to judge who is and who is not a Christian, that is a judgement for Jesus and Jesus alone. 

In our passage we see that Jesus is separating the sheep from the goats.  In this country it is easy to tell sheep and goats apart.  Sheep are round woolly things that hide by the side of unfenced roads and then leap out in front of passing cars; goats are skinny things that eat anything including the washing, washing line and anything else in reach.  It is easy to tell sheep from goats.  I am told that in Israel sheep and goats look pretty similar and are not easy to tell apart.  Only a shepherd can tell the sheep from the goats.  So it is with people, we cannot tell for sure who is and who is not a Christian, only Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows for sure who has given them self to him.

We will never know this side of heaven who will be there with us in eternal glory.  There will be some people there who will surprise us with their presence and there will be some whose absence is equally surprising.  Our God is a God of surprises.

I was sitting in Ashton Methodist Church about three years ago.  There were several of us in a group discussing passages from the New Testament concerning the Kingdom of God.  We got to a particular passage and a lady sitting opposite me said, “This passage really frightens me.”

You need to know that this particular group was a group of committed Christians undertaking the joint Anglican/Methodist training course, “Called to Serve”.  There were no new or inexperienced Christians in the group; we are talking about people who are committed to Christ and know their Bibles.  Yet this lady said, “This passage really frightens me.”

The passage in question was the one we’ve taken as our text this morning, the passage about the final judgement, when Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats.  This committed Christian lady was worried that she might end up as a goat.

As a group we were able to reassure her that if Jesus Christ is her Lord and Saviour then she will certainly be judged as a sheep; and I can say the same to anybody who has given their life to Jesus.  If you have not given your life to Jesus you may be a goat.  I hope that everybody reading this today has given their life to Jesus, but if you haven’t please don’t delay.  Jesus is going to return, we are going to be judged and we must make sure that we are the sheep who receive the reward of eternal life because we have put our faith in Jesus.

We Will Remember Them!

Today, at the hospital I’m currently on placement at as a volunteer part of the Chaplaincy team, I attended a short service of Remembrance in the hospital chapel.  There were only four of us, plus the Chaplain who was leading the service, gathered there but it was a profoundly moving a peaceful time when we brought to mind those who have died in time of war.

For many years I have struggled with the idea of Remembrance Day and for several years did not buy or wear a poppy.  This was because, as a Christian, I am deeply committed to peace and feel very strongly that violence is never the answer.  I felt that Remembrance Day and the poppies in some way glorified war and could not even attend a service on Remembrance Sunday, let alone lead the worship or preach at one.

I now wear my poppy with pride and am happy to preach on Remembrance Sunday; indeed I shall be doing that very thing in two days’ time.  I am still a committed pacifist and would never personally raise arms against another; but I do now recognise the enormous sacrifice that British, and foreign, service men and women have made to defend the freedoms we all enjoy, not only in two world wars but in the many smaller conflicts that have taken place since.  We owe them a huge debt of gratitude and it is right and proper that we remember them and all they have done for us and the generations still to come.

Child Safety Comes First!

I read with some sadness two letters published in today’s Methodist Recorder on the subject of Safeguarding; sadness because people are still protesting against the need for Safeguarding training.

In last week’s Methodist Recorder there was a report about a formal enquiry by the Methodist Church in response to the case of a former local preacher and church employee who was given an indeterminate sentence in June 2010 for sexual abuse.  A number of faults were identified, including “a lack of safeguarding training in local areas’.

In this week’s Methodist Recorder we have a letter from a gentleman who has decided to “sever all links with Methodism”.  What has prompted this momentous and no doubt personally painful decision?  The requirement that as a church office holder he attend a special meeting concerning the safeguarding of children in the Methodist Church.  Apparently the same church will also be losing its stewards, secretary, treasurer and organist/choir mistress for the same reason.

I have not had the opportunity to read the “Safeguarding Update 2011” document and understand that some of the wording in that document could be taken in the wrong way as is evident from one phrase in the letter, “Fascist- like decree”.  The writer of the letter and his fellow church leaders have clearly taken it this way and unintended offence has been caused.

At a local level I have heard complaints about CRB checks and about Safeguarding training; usually from leaders who have been working with children for many years and have always striven to provide a safe environment for those in their care.  They sometimes feel that their own integrity is being questioned or that their competence is in doubt.  I can understand where these people are coming from although, as you will see, I believe that the Safeguarding training and meetings are not only necessary but absolutely essential.

As Christians we have a duty to care for and love all those whose lives we come into contact with and I am convinced that this is especially the case when it comes to children and vulnerable adults.  The report into the case of the local preacher convicted of child sexual abuse, detailed above, mentioned a lack of safeguarding training as one of the contributive causes.  If the introduction of such training means that one less child is harmed then surely no reasonable person could protest about it.

I have had the fortune to be able to attend Safeguarding training courses, as a Sunday school teacher and Student Minister.  I have learnt something new on each occasion and I am one of those who could legitimately claim to have always striven to provide a safe environment for those in my (and others) care.  What I have learnt on these courses has enabled me to do that, in co-operation with others, even more effectively.

To some the requirement for attendance at meetings or even training in safeguarding training may seem like bureaucratic nonsense, even like the spirit of the world invading the church; but to me anything that we can do to make our churches a safe space for children and vulnerable adults should be welcomed and embraced enthusiastically.