I’ve just watched David Miliband’s speech launching his bid to be Labour leader.  He seems like a good guy.  He said all the right things.  Hope, justice, equality…  But I wasn’t inspired.

Sometimes inspiration is as much how you say it as what you say.

I’m sitting thinking about a sermon for Sunday.  It’s Pentecost, one of those Sundays which is hugely important to the church.  It’s also one of those festivals which comes around every year and has had every angle of it preached on over the years.

I want to say the right things… but I also want people to be inspired.

So, in my usual Monday practice I went looking for inspiration in my usual places.

I found it on Roddy Hamilton’s site:

When those who trust love no longer wait for someone else to fix the problem of the church,

when faith is too important to hand it over to leaders to sort out,

when justice leaves behind those who think she is but a subset of the church’s work rather than the whole thing,

when followers give up on those who procrastinate about inclusion,

when diversity becomes an invite to a table of bread broken safely among people wearing their hidden truths across their foreheads,

when communion is a feast served by non-ordained women, children and men who know heaven won’t implode in doing so,

when the doctrine makers use marker pens to write ‘sorry’ over half their words,

when creeds are written in questions rather than in statements,

when dandelions become the plant of choice breaking out just where the ground has been cleansed against it,

then it is Pentecost.

Hope, justice, equality… but sometimes how you say it is just as important.

Thanks for inspiring me Roddy.

On Sunday I was wondering about that little conversation Jesus has with Peter where he ask him three times “Do you love me?”.

Each time Peter says “yes, of course I do!” and after each reply Jesus says something odd.

Feed my lambs.  Look after my sheep.  Feed my sheep.

Odd.

I wondered aloud about the progression.  Are the lambs the spiritual babies?  Do the sheep, the more mature followers, also need guiding and protecting?  What should the sheep be fed so that they remain healthy and strong?

Is Jesus asking Peter to ensure that the conditions for growth are in place?  Is He asking Peter to make sure that the new church takes its members seriously, that they make sure people can grow in faith and that they are supported to do so?

What does that kind of growth look like?  And are we anywhere close to it in our churches?

Some very gifted people I know have been working on a lectionary based all age worship resource with a Scottish flavour.

It’s called Spill The Beans and you can download the pilot materials which cover the period from Easter to Pentecost and give them a try.

Download Spill The Beans and remember to let them know what you think!

Last week during our team meeting we were presented with an interesting challenge as part of our worship… to serve each other.  The challenge seemed a simple one.  How hard is it to make someone a coffee or to pass the veg?

It turns out serving someone isn’t the difficult part.  Being served is much harder.

But I like my milk in first.

Not so much broccolli.

I wouldn’t do it like that.

Being served means giving up power.  It means allowing someone to help.  It means reviewing your ideas of what is ‘right’ and ‘good enough’.

It made us uncomfortable.  It made us think.

What if you serve all the time?  Do others have the chance to serve?   Is being served all the time disempowering?  How does that manifest itself?

In his great post ‘After Haiti: What to say, sing or show in church‘ Andrew Jones (aka Tall Skinny Kiwi) gives a great summary of some words, images and music that could have been used following the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

He points to some powerful and moving stuff but it led me to a question…

Do we avoid the dark side of faith in our worship?

The Bible has some rich resources for times of hardship and suffering.  Lamentations, Psalms, Job… all full of pain but honest and real and full of faith.

Do we weep in worship?

And if not, why not?

(The DEC Appeal still needs your help.  Please click on the button on the image below and help if you can.  If you are a UK taxpayer don’t forget to Gift Aid your donation. Thank you.)

Following up on my only two choices post, I thought it would be worth posting the video Jonathan mentioned in his comment:

Two choices… inward or outward.

Which are you choosing and how is it working out for your church?

(HT Johnny Laird and Jonathan Blundell for the video)

Photo: Rob GT

The Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Committee are hosting a day looking at ‘Virtualisation & Society in Edinburgh on Thursday 21 January from 10am – 4pm.  The day is FREE.  To book your place email vcano [at] cofscotland [dot] org [dot] uk.

topics:

• How has virtualisation impacted on notions of identity?
• How has virtualisation impacted on our values as human beings?
• How has increased connectivity impacted on the nature of our organisations?
• How has increased connectivity and virtualisation impacted on our ability to develop meaningful communities?
• Is a regulatory framework desirable?
• What are the theological implications of the changes being brought to individuals, to society and to organisations by increased connectivity and virtualisation?

Speakers:

• Prof. John Eldridge. University of Glasgow. Dept. of Sociology, Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
• Prof. Phillip Schlesinger. Professor in Cultural Policy. Institute of Cross Cultural Studies. University of Glasgow.
• Dr. Heidi Campbell. Texas A&M University. Department of Communication.
• David Pullinger. Head of Digital Policy. COI.
• Prof. Michael Northcott. University of Edinburgh. New College.

Come and say Hi! if you’re going.