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A reflection for All Saints and All Souls 2021

What are we doing today as we commemorate the saints and remember our loved ones departed? Simply put, we are remembering with gratitude those who we have known and loved who have died and gone to God before us and we are giving thanks for those deemed to be saints and asking for their prayers as we try to live a good Christian life.

The saints are those named by the church as being good examples to us of how to live a life dedicated to the service of Christ and to God’s people. They range from the obscure and eccentric to the known and remembered. They are remembered by the Church and us today as an encouragement in how we attempt to live our lives in the light of Christ. Like us the saints are flawed and all too human but that I think can be more of a help than a hindrance as we can see in them ourselves and we can be, as I say, encouraged in the lives we are trying to live.

Alongside the saints we are also today remembering the departed. Why?

In some expressions of the Christian Church the belief is held that by praying for by name at the altar, those who have died get days or years knocked off their time in Purgatory. Purgatory is deemed to be a place of trial that the soul goes to after being judged by God, time is spent there working off one’s sins because one needs to be fully cleansed before one can enter heaven or if one’s sins were so great to be confined to hell fire.

Some Christians remain happy with this concept but it is not one that I subscribe to and I suspect that there are many of you who would not do so either. The God, I have come to believe in is not a God of rejection but one of loving acceptance, who always offers us the chance to repent and enter fully in to his presence without having to jump through hoops or to endure hell fire.

The most helpful comment I have ever heard about what might happen to us on our death was from Canon Jane Millard when she was working as chaplain to those living with HIV and AIDS. She said that through the many journeys to death that she had accompanied the dying, she had come to believe that we die at the point that we reach our ultimate human perfection and that when we do so we are too perfect to remain in this world and thus enter in to the presence of God.

The second most helpful comment for me comes from the late Cardinal Basil Hume, who once wrote that he believed that at the point of death we get to whisper into God’s ear all the things we want to tell him, with the opportunity to say sorry for the things we got wrong, knowing that as we do so we are fully accepted and welcomed into his loving embrace.

We are given the choice to do this or not at the point of our death. If we chose not to then by our own choice we spend eternity out with the presence of God. God does not reject us we do it ourselves.

For me it is this act of whispering that takes us to the point of perfection and leads us into our death. These comments have helped me move away from any idea of Purgatory and to hope that in death we come fully into God’s being in ways that we cannot comprehend in this life.

As helpful as these comments may be they do not, however,  remove the pain of loss and separation that we feel when our loved ones die. That pain is often raw for a long time and I actually think that one never really gets over it but learns to live with the pain better as time passes. The one thing we never do is to forget those we have loved and lost – they remain alive in our memories, hearts and consciousness. In the SEC revised funeral rite there is a phrase in one of the prayers of farewell that asks that the departed will:

“...live on in the hearts and minds, courage and consciences of their family and friends...”

What this means is that every time we think of them be it with tears or with laughter, or when we do something they taught us, we keep their memory alive and in doing so bring ourselves comfort.

There is another funeral prayer that talks of using the time that we have left aright:

“Grant us, Lord, the wisdom and the grace to use aright the time that is left to us here on earth. Lead us to repent of our sins, the evil we have done and the good we have not done; and strengthen us to follow the steps of your Son, in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

I like this prayer for it reminds us that we all pass through this life quite quickly and that we should try and make the most of it as we do so. We need to regularly reflect upon our lives and to give thanks for the good things and to make amends for the things we got wrong wherever we can. It is a prayer that encourages one not to live one’s life with regrets and to get on and do the things we want to do. We cannot change the past but we can apologise for it, we live in the present and we can deal with things as they arise and we can hope for the future and perhaps control it to some extent too.

Our commemoration today encourages  us to remember our loved ones both with smiles and sorrow and it tells us not to squander the time we have left. I also think it says to us not to worry about what we may or may not leave behind either. For what we leave behind is ultimately decided by those who are left, for it is they who remember what is important to them about us. The saints did not know that they would be declared ‘saintly’ - it was after their death that others decided their lives merited that honour. This does not mean that we should not try to live a good life, far from it in actual fact because I suspect we would all like the memories we leave behind for others to be good ones and who knows thy might think us saintly too!

 

A reflection for Bible Sunday 24th October 2021 by Canon Dean Fostekew

In 2000 years what little seems to have changed. The Second Epistle to Timothy could easily have been written for a 21st century audience for all that it describes:

3For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, 4and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.”            2Timothy 3:4:3-4

What a wonderful phrase; 'itching ears' is and what egotistical desires it highlights.

Christianity has always been, to some extent, counter-cultural. It may have got the upper hand in this country in the medieval and early modern period but in today's post-modern society it is, I believe, once again very counter-cultural to be a Christian and to challenge the norms that one sees around us. When Jesus and his radical teachings first burst onto the scene in first century Judea few listened to him. Even less followed him Why? Simply because Jesus' teachings were difficult for 'itching ears' to cope with. In our society, today, a society divided by wealth, class and aspiration (to list but a few divisions) Christianity seems to challenge the accepted norms too much and for the majority of the population that challenge is one they would rather not acknowledge or think about, let alone respond to.

I see 21st century Scotland and perhaps much of Europe to be very much like the first century Greco-Romano culture. Both had a focus on the individual and that individual's immediate family rather than the wider common good of the whole community or population. Individuals today, like then, are encouraged to think firstly of their own needs and wants rather than of those around them. You can see this expressed in the response to the migrant and refugee crisis in Europe. Very few people want to respond generously to their plight. Instead the first concern is how will this effect me. Helping these strangers might stop me achieving all that I want to achieve or to acquire.

Christianity, however, teaches us and challenges us to do something different. It instructs us to be welcoming and generous to the stranger and to those in any need; to be hospitable and to think of others before we think of ourselves. Dangerous stuff in deed.

This is a counter-cultural message today just as it was revolutionary in the first century - you can see why the Early Church was persecuted and many martyred for their compassionate faith. Christianity has always encouraged the development of an attitude of acceptance and outreach to others. An attitude that says that; 'all are welcome' and all are acceptable in the eyes of God and in the Christian community and that all are expected to share in what we have to offer. As St.Paul wrote:

"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof and correction and for training in righteousness, so  that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, and equipped for every good work."       2Timothy 3:16-17

This implies that all of us should read our Scriptures and put what they tell us into action. If you further put St.Paul’s words with those of Isaiah and St.John (the additional readings set for today) you will also see that it is through Jesus that Scripture is expressed in its purest form and that when we encounter the living Christ we meet the ways of God face on. In doing so we are also transformed and encouraged to live a life inspired by Jesus and to copy the things he did, rather than the things we might want to do.

Scripture is rich food in deed, but it does not feed us unless it also inspires us to live a Christ-like life and in order to do that we have to try and live our lives in the ways that Jesus taught and showed us. We are to care for the orphan and the widow, to reach out and welcome the stranger and the refugee to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Basically, Jesus challenges to remember who are neighbours are and what we might need to do to make their lives more bearable and wholesome. The ways of Jesus and the Scriptures of God call us to be counter-cultural and not to be afraid of doing things differently to the ways of Society. It is a difficult path to tread but it is one that leads to a more fulfilled life for ourselves and for those around us as well. Scripture encourages us to be radical because if nothing else Jesus was radical before us.

A reflection for Sunday 17th October 2021 by the Rev'd David Warnes

Hebrews 5, 1-10

Immediately after this morning’s reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews come these words:

“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain...”

Explaining who Melchizidek was and why the writer makes a link between him and Jesus Christ would indeed be hard, a task more suited to a Bible study than a short reflection. It would also distract us from the two simple and profound truths that this difficult passage contains.

The first of those truths is that the people who are called to the priesthood are human, yet their very humanity – the fact that they are “subject to weakness” – can make them effective in their ministry. This calling involves, in the words of Archbishop Michael Ramsey,

“caring for humanity in loving identification”

It is precisely those human weaknesses that make it possible to identify with other people, to understand something of their needs and their fears. And that is a ministry to which all Christians, lay and ordained, are called, a ministry of caring and service.

I was reminded of this when a friend phoned me while I was working on this reflection. My responses to the difficulties and fears of which he spoke was shaped my own difficulties and experiences. Those are not identical to his, and I was careful not to say “I know just how you feel” because I cannot possibly know that. What he and I share, as baptized Christians, was well expressed by Rowan Williams when he wrote that “The baptized person is not only in the midst of human suffering and muddle but in the middle of the love and delight of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

That brings us to the second profound truth in this passage from Hebrews. Jesus Christ has a full and perfect ability to care for humanity in loving identification precisely because he lived a human life and faced the profound challenges with which life and death confront us, including fear, grief, physical pain and the sense of feeling abandoned by God.

Because of that we can be sure that the mind of God knows us far better than we know ourselves and that the heart of God is full of a loving understanding of what it means to be human and how difficult and painful it can be. God truly does know just how we feel.

The compilers of the Lectionary cannot have known that this passage from Hebrews would fall on the Sunday before Russell’s ordination to the priesthood, nor that he will be exercising a priestly ministry at the Church of the Good Shepherd. The Epistle to the Hebrews may be densely argued and difficult to understand, but it ends with a resounding climax which will serve well as a prayer for Russell, and for all Christians, for we are all called to exercise ministries of love and service.

Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever.   Amen.

A reflection for Sunday 10th October 2021by the Rev'd Russell Duncan

Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Down through the ages, men and women have asked deep questions about the meaning of eternity. We have only to think about the creative arts which often reflect this.  How many plays, books and operas have been written about eternal love, eternal life, eternal youth, eternal separation?

As a lover of opera Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Verdi’s La Traviata instantly come to mind. There are others.  At this year’s Edinburgh International Festival there was a production of Dido’s Ghost performed by the Dunedin Consort. Some of you may have seen it.  In it, the story of Dido and Aeneas, originally set to music by Henry Purcell around 1688, was updated. It didn’t end with Dido’s death. The tale has been continued.    

In many churches the Nicene Creed is said ending with the familiar words “And I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come”. In our own church, we remember Sunday by Sunday, those who have died with the words “Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord” and our corporate response “And let light perpetual shine upon them”. Eternity has not been forgotten about.

In his commentary on Mark’s gospel, the well-known biblical scholar, Professor William Barclay, writes “we must note how the man came and how Jesus met him. He came running. He flung himself at Jesus’ feet. Jesus confronted him with a challenge and even what appears to be a rebuttal. He did not receive the answer which he was expecting. He had great possessions. It had never entered his head to give away what he owned.  When it was suggested to him, he could not do this. True he had never stolen. He had never defrauded anyone – but neither had he ever been, nor could he compel himself to be, positively and sacrificially generous”.  That was a step too far. Some might say he was too good for his own good.

The German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) comments that “the difference between ourselves and the rich young man is that he was not allowed to solace his regrets by saying “Never mind what Jesus says, I can still hold on to my riches, but in a spirit of inner detachment. But no, he went away sorrowful because he could not obey, he could not believe. In this, the young man was quite honest. He went away from Jesus.  This honesty had more promise that any apparent communion with Jesus based upon disobedience”.

Jesus recognises how tough a thing he asked of the rich young man when he looked at his disciples and said “how hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God”. The disciples were equally perplexed.

Today’s gospel challenges us about our priorities and those things which are important to us. Unlike St Francis of Assisi, whose feast day was last Monday, 4th October, I doubt we are being called to sell all that we have.  The challenge to us in asking that same question may be to share something of our riches, our time, our friendship, our love, our gifts with those around us to bring in God’s kingdom and the inheritance of eternal life just now.

 

We pray for all who are afraid to give and afraid to share,

For all who have amassed wealth but are poor in spirit,

For all who are suffering through the greed and avarice of others.

Lord, give us grace and help in all our needs.

A reflection for Sunday 26th September 2021 by Canon Dean Fostekew

The final verses 13-20 of Chapter 5 of James’ Epistle, are I believe, some of the best in his letter. Verses 13-16 give us practical things to do to help those in need and they can form a template of behaviour for all the baptised and especially all the ordained:

13 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.” James 5:13-16

This advice can be summed  up as:

Pray when you are suffering

Give thanks joyfully when you are happy and don’t forget to do so

Ask others to pray for you when you are ill

Always pray for those ill and suffering

Minister to each other in word and deed -anointing when appropriate

Share your burdens and doubts with each other

Remember you are a sinner and always seek God’s forgiveness

This list includes two of the seven Sacraments - Confession or better termed the Ministry of Reconciliation (to God) and Anointing; those who are sick, in need or who may be dying. The list also charges all of us to pray daily for the needs of each other and the world. Verses 13-16 can serve as a good template for a Christian life for although unwritten or said James’ words are shot through with Jesus’ charge to all of us to love God and to love one’s neighbour as oneself. (The Golden Rule) Jesus does not charge us to love in any soppy or sentimental way but to love in ways that are pro-active, all encompassing and challenging of the status quo. Love that makes us and demands us to look beyond our selves and our individual needs to the needs of others as we reach out to them in ministry and prayer.

These three verses seem to me to sum up the whole epistle that we have read over the last few weeks, for they call us to express our faith not in mere words alone but in our actions as well. Faith without works is a dead faith. Long live an active, working faith for as James concludes; a living, vibrant faith that seeks to love and reach out to others will cover a multitude of our own sins.