I’ve just finished reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell.  I know it’s taken me a while to get round to this but I’m kind of glad I waited because I think I’m probably in a place now where it makes more sense to me that it might have when it came out a couple of years ago.

The book is full of gems.  For me, Bell’s engagement with the Jewish Jesus is illuminating and helpful but the line that struck me most was:

If it’s not good news for everybody then it’s not good news for anybody.

His explanation is that if person X starts to follow Christ that should be good news for the Muslim next door or the Hindu across the road because person x will be a better neighbour.

I’ve asked the question ‘What difference does it make to the world that we follow Christ?’ in a few sermons over the past months.  I think Rob Bell’s observation gives at least a place to start looking for an answer.  The Good News isn’t just Good News for us.  It should be Good News for the people we live with, the people we work with, the people we share our street with, the people we meet and all the people we come into contact with.

The lectionary for this week is Matthew 25: 31-46 (the sheep and the goats/i was naked, hungy, sick, in prison) and in his Chocolate teapot for 28 Nov Roddy Hamilton has posted some thoughts:

There is no way Jesus intended to start a church. Nothing he did was designed to grow a great institution that has fought over how many angels you can get on a pin head, the colour of cups in the cupboards and who should be allowed to use them, should the minister raise three fingers representing the Trinity during the benediction, should we stand for the bible, what should be the balance of hymns between traditional and contemporary etc, etc, etc. You can add to the list as you feel the need.

All Jesus did was tell folk there are forgotten folk in the world and there ought not to be, there are people who starve and there shouldn’t be, there are folk imprisoned in memories and pain and guilt and marriages and illness who should rather be free to life fully, there are people who can’t afford clothes for their own backs let alone their children’s backs and that is a shocking thing to let happen. Sort it.

The principle is dead straight forward. This is quite simply all there is to do as a church, a nation, a company of people, an individual. Here, and rarely anywhere else will you find Jesus. He never said he’d be found among those who wanted pews or those who didn’t, those who wanted everything sung with the organ or the piano, those who wanted Moody and Sankey or those who wanted John Bell.

But he did say, if you want to find me, look among the poor.

Which bit did the church fail to understand?

My answer? All of it.

We, the church, the supposed people of God, the followers of Christ, have forgotten that the Good News should be Good News for everyone.  If it’s not Good News for everyone then it’s not the Good News Jesus was talking about.

Any thoughts?

Lawrence Moore’s brilliant lectionary blog Disclosing New Worlds is back!  A superb resource for anyone who preaches or who wants to get some great insights and commentary on the weekly lectionary passages.

Today’s sermon:

It is 90 years since the end of the First World War. We are here at the 11th hour of the Sunday closest to the 11th day of the 11th month, when all those years ago the guns fell silent for the last time in the War that was meant to end all wars; the war that was supposed to change the world because it had been so costly that we could never allow it to happen again.  But of course it didn’t and just a few years later the Second World War began.  So many wars.  So much death and destruction.

But the memories fade with the passing of those who witnessed those terrible times.  We seem not to learn.

There are only a very few men who served in the British Forces in The Great War still alive.  The youngest is 106 years old.  Their comrades have long since passed and they will soon follow and there will be no one left to tell us how it really was on the fields of Passchendaele where a million men died and 2 million were injured.

It seems a strange contradiction, to fight for peace.  I’m sure that applying violence to resolve a problem is not what we are called to do but yet there seems little option sometimes.  Throughout the Old Testament the Israelites called on God in times of war.  They carried the Ark of the Covenant before them into battle.  It seems that things may have changed little as leaders from around the world claim God for their side.

This evening I’m meeting up with Thomas aka Headphonaught for a chat about Tribes (book or audio), the new book by Seth Godin.

Our chat is being recorded as part of the Something Beautiful podcasts so I’ll try to speak clearly and even make sense.  All I’ll say for now is that I liked the audio book and it resonates with lots of the things I’ve written about and spoken about over the past few years so expect lots of soapbox rants!

I’ve been thinking of posting podcasts for a while so have a look in the sidebar for last Sunday’s sermon or listen here and let me know what you think. UPDATE - or get it on iTunes!

Together@MCT starts again for a new year tonight at 5.30pm at Saughtonhall Church with pizza and plans.  Together will happen every second month on the last Sunday but those are all the plans we have so far.  Tonight we hope people will help with ideas and get a little more involved in how Together happens and what it looks like.

A two part station, one with a bowl of water and a towel and the other with a communion cup full of water, used at Together @ MCT in June.

Clean

Water
It gives us life
We are made of it
We need it
To drink
To clean us

We wash to clean our skin, our outsides
We clean off the dirt and grime of our lives
Jesus washed his disciples feet as a sign of service
To wash them clean of the world outside
Wash your hands in the bowl
Clean off the dirt of the world and remember Jesus

But how do we clean our insides?
We are baptised with water
Water that cleans our hearts and our souls

Jesus is the water of life
He came to give us life
Life to live, to enjoy and to share
So take the cup
Drink the water of life
Let it refresh you and clean you and give you life