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Easter VI – Sunday 17th May 2020

0ur streets are not empty, they are filled with love

Ever since I heard these words spoken by The Queen in her message of stoicism and hope for a time of adversity on the 75th anniversary of VE Day, they have been going round and round my head.  I had not expected them. I had not thought of seeing things in this way. They opened up a new way of understanding things. Not unlike looking at a painting or a landscape for the first time.

For many, myself included, we are all trying to make some sense of the global pandemic. Its sudden  impact upon our life, our work, our social diaries, our gathering together on a Sunday to name but a few.

One of the things which has surprised me most is that I miss seeing peoples’ faces and expressions particularly some family members and friends who do not have the benefit of being able to access modern technology.  I have only the tone of their voice to go on when we speak.  I cannot at present go and see them wherever they are. I have however been introduced to “zoom” both for professional and social use and am becoming quite adept at using it.  Until now, I knew nothing about it.

For me, one of the highlights is Thursday evening at 8.0pm when we clap for the NHS and other key support workers. I look forward to stepping out into my front garden and seeing familiar faces. Of smiles, of laughter, of brief conversations. Of knowing that neighbours are still there and safe despite our streets being empty. In some strange way, however brief, we are reminded that we are not forgotten, not isolated, not alone. We are part of a living community. This has been evidenced by (One) talking to new neighbours over the back garden fence whilst cutting down some long overgrown bushes which prevented light from entering part of their garden and (Two) a work colleague kindly and unexpectedly offering to get me some online shopping on more than one occasion.

Today’s gospel (John 14: 15-21) includes the familiar words “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever”.

May we this week be people of love not only knowing that we are loved by God but by showing it in practical and even unexpected ways to neighbours (old and new) in the streets in which we live and among our families and friends.

“Our streets are not empty; they are filled with love”.

One of the various things I have been doing during 'lockdown' is re-decorating various bits of the Rectory. When I moved in 11 years ago I painted every room but never got round to re-painting the woodwork and doors in the hall, landing and upper corridor. Now they are all shining white and the decorating bug has bitten me so other bits of the house are getting a 'freshen up' as well. I had been meaning to re-painting tall that woodwork but I never seemed to get round to it. Lockdown removed all my excuses. Lockdown has also enabled me to sort out a particular desk drawer that I meant to do for the last 10 years, it took 10 minutes. Why did I leave it so long? Now I am looking at my study bookshelves.

The priest-poet and Church Times contributor Malcom Guite recently wrote:

"One advantage of the present confinement is that it has given me the time, and occasionally, the inclination to start re-shelving the many random piles of books in my study - or at least to begin that Herculean task."                                        

That is where I am at today and I am encouraged by his words that follow that paragraph;

"To be honest, I have not got very far with it..."

Guite goes on to state that it is all too easy to get distracted by what one ought to be doing by the things that capture one's eye or imagination. In his case a folio edition of the 'Rubaáiyát of Omar Khayyám' in my case pottering in the garden and enjoying the sunshine. 

How easy it is to NOT do the things one really should be getting on with and to let other things distract one. I think, we can all be guilty of that sin, doing things we want to do rather than what we really should be doing. Sometimes it can be due; to excitement in finding something new or long forgotten again; or selfishness; or temptation; or whatever. We are all rather good at putting things on our to do lists repeatedly and not doing them. It can be like that in our relationship with God. We mean to spend more time in prayer but don't. We mean to put others needs before our own but we don't. We mean not to give into temptation but we don't. It is part of the human condition that we can never be as 'good' as we might want or wish to be but then we are human and not perfect.

I wonder if we were perfect, if we might get bored with ourselves and our lives? I know for myself that it is the opportunity I have to try and do better that spurs me on to try and be just that - something better than I am. What is important, I believe, is to know that one is not perfect and that one will always be guilty of leaving undone those things one 'ought not to have left undone'. When one knows and acts upon that knowledge of self-awareness one does I think come closer to doing the things one ought to do, rather than leaving them undone. It can at times be a bit of a losing battle but if one keeps on trying then in doing so we do I believe come closer to God. For it is in our trying to lead good lives that we come to know God better. 

Yet, occasionally it can be the thing that distracts one from the task in hand that can lead one to discover something new or enable one to draw closer to God or loved ones. Guite ended his piece in the Church Times by saying:

"So, this morning, instead of tidying, I sat and half-read, half-remembered, half-recited, the whole glorious poem, and felt afresh that note of gentle energy, that power to savour every delight, because you know it is passing, and I looked through my study window at the blossom-laden boughs of this strange spring and closed that lovely little book still chanting..."

... and in the midst of it all was God. 

 

Christian Aid Week: May 10^th – 16^th 2020

Christian Aid week is not going ahead in its usual form this year.  The corona virus pandemic is BOTH preventing us from doing our usual fundraising AND greatly increasing the needs of the people in the poorest countries of the world for all the services provided by Christian Aid.

Your donations and support over the years have been greatly appreciated – Murrayfield Churches Together (MCT) has regularly given over £6,000 from the House-to-House collection, Joint MCT Service and Lunch.  Over the years these donations have enabled Christian Aid to work with their partner organisations in numerous developing countries to improve the lives of the globally most disadvantaged people.

The Christian Aid website states: ‘As this virus spreads across the world, love rises up in response.  You’ve already shown incredible kindness to your neighbours.   Now is the time to reach out to your neighbours both near and far.

Your love protects.  From storms, from drought, and now from coronavirus.  Your love protects our global neighbours battling the spread of this illness.  Your love protects.  With soap, clean water and medical supplies.

By supporting us this Christian Aid Week, you can reach out and protect more of your neighbours today.’

There are several ways you can donate to support the work of Christian Aid.

1    Online. Go to caweek.org or click on the link below

https://www.christianaid.org.uk/appeals/key-appeals/christian-aid-week

2    By telephone:  Call 020 7523 2269

3    By text:  Text GIVE to 70040 to donate £5

4    By post:  Send a cheque (made payable to Christian Aid) to:  Christian Aid, 35 Lower Marsh, LONDON SE1 7RL.   Include your name, address, Post Code, and whether you would like to include Gift Aid.  Please note that cheques will take longer to process than usual because of changes to working arrangements caused by the corona virus lockdown.

The Murrayfield Churches Together Christian Aid committee are very grateful for all your support over the years, and hope that you will be happy to donate this year in a different way.  We also hope you will be happy to spread the word around to friends and people who have previously supported Christian Aid.  Please feel free to forward this email.

 

MCT Committee:  Liz Sudlow, Anne Ostrowski, Marjorie Guthrie, Christina Webster, Norma MacDonald, Lesley Webster, Judith Scott

The three ministers from Murrayfield Churches Together have put together a worship video for Christian Aid Sunday. It can be found on the Parish Church on Sunday 10th May website at:

https://www.murrayfieldparishchurch.org.uk/video

If the link doesn't work go to the Parish Church website and click on the videos tab.

 

 

Sunday 10th May 2020

Easter V  A Reflection for Christian Aid Sunday

There are times, in our lives, when I think the Psalms can speak to us better than any other pieces of Scripture. Their poetry, pithiness and in many cases brevity seem to sum up all we want to say and often all we can hear. The psalms encompass the whole gamut of our emotions.

There are psalms of hope such as:

Psalm 71:5

“For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.”  and

Psalms of anger:

Psalm 37:8

^“Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret - it leads only to evil.”

Psalms of thanksgiving”

Psalm 138:1-3

“I will bless the Lord at all times;

   his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul makes its boast in the Lord;

   let the humble hear and be glad.

O magnify the Lord with me,

   and let us exalt his name together.”

and Psalms of joy:

Psalm 95: 1-5

“O come, let us sing to the Lord;

   let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

² Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

   let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

³ For the Lord is a great God,

   and a great King above all gods.

⁴ In his hand are the depths of the earth;

   the heights of the mountains are his also.

⁵ The sea is his, for he made it,

   and the dry land, which his hands have formed.”

 

The psalm appointed for this fifth Sunday in Eastertide and the Sunday we keep this year, as Christian Aid Sunday is Psalm 31, a psalm which expresses grief and lament, and which calls upon God for help:

“In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;

   do not let me ever be put to shame;

   in your righteousness deliver me.

Incline your ear to me;

   rescue me speedily.

Be a rock of refuge for me,

   a strong fortress to save me.” verses 1-3

The psalm goes on to call God our rock and fortress, a place of safety. It recalls the pain anguish we can all feel and are perhaps feeling acutely at this present time and it ends on an upbeat and very hopeful note:

“Be strong, and let your heart take courage,

   all you who wait for the Lord.”       verse 24

This final verse maybe one that is useful to medicate upon in these days as we call upon God to help and guide us through the uncharted waters we find ourselves in during this lockdown time. In these times in which we have had to retreat to our own fortresses - our homes. We do, perhaps, gain a new understanding of what it means to call God our fortress. God is not a fortress that barricades us in but one who strengthens us and enables us to look out for those more vulnerable than we are. It brings into sharp focus what loving our neighbour is all about; and when we speak of neighbours we mean those near and far, known and unknown.

Our Lord was well versed in the psalms and it is in fact the fifth verse of this psalm that he shouts from the cross as he dies:

“Into your hand I commit my spirit …”

Seven poignant words, and they have great relevance to where we find ourselves today. Many have died due to the Covid19 virus and it is into the hands of God that we commend them.

The Covid19 virus has caused panic, fear, dread and anger. It has made some us view our neighbours in a different light for their self-less acts or for their selfishness. Some have given their all in caring for others and others have been so frightened they have panic bought and stock piled. Some have seen friends and strangers as potential dangers and others deeply miss the contact of their loved ones. If truth be told, we have all experienced a variety of emotions and will continue to do so until this crisis passes and it is in these times of emotional strangeness and turmoil that the psalms can speak to us and help us.

Christian Aid has always been about helping one’s neighbour, both close and far away; and this year it is just as important, if not more important than ever to ask ourselves how we can be a good neighbour to those less fortunate than ourselves; those on our door step and those in the developing world who like us are frightened and worried, like we are, in this strange time.

Psalm 31

¹ In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;

   do not let me ever be put to shame;

   in your righteousness deliver me.

² Incline your ear to me;

   rescue me speedily.

Be a rock of refuge for me,

   a strong fortress to save me.

³ You are indeed my rock and my fortress;

   for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,

⁴ take me out of the net that is hidden for me,

   for you are my refuge.

⁵ Into your hand I commit my spirit;

   you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

⁶ You hate those who pay regard to worthless idols,

   but I trust in the Lord.

⁷ I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love,

   because you have seen my affliction;

   you have taken heed of my adversities,

⁸ and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;

   you have set my feet in a broad place.

⁹ Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;

   my eye wastes away from grief,

   my soul and body also.

¹⁰ For my life is spent with sorrow,

   and my years with sighing;

my strength fails because of my misery,

   and my bones waste away.

¹¹ I am the scorn of all my adversaries,

   a horror to my neighbours,

an object of dread to my acquaintances;

   those who see me in the street flee from me.

¹² I have passed out of mind like one who is dead;

   I have become like a broken vessel.

¹³ For I hear the whispering of many—

   terror all around!—

as they scheme together against me,

   as they plot to take my life.

¹⁴ But I trust in you, O Lord;

   I say, ‘You are my God.’

¹⁵ My times are in your hand;

   deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.

¹⁶ Let your face shine upon your servant;

   save me in your steadfast love.

¹⁷ Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord,

   for I call on you;

let the wicked be put to shame;

   let them go dumbfounded to Sheol.

¹⁸ Let the lying lips be stilled

   that speak insolently against the righteous

   with pride and contempt.

¹⁹ O how abundant is your goodness

   that you have laid up for those who fear you,

and accomplished for those who take refuge in you,

   in the sight of everyone!

²⁰ In the shelter of your presence you hide them

   from human plots;

you hold them safe under your shelter

   from contentious tongues.

²¹ Blessed be the Lord,

   for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me

   when I was beset as a city under siege.

²² I had said in my alarm,

   ‘I am driven far from your sight.’

But you heard my supplications

   when I cried out to you for help.

²³ Love the Lord, all you his saints.

   The Lord preserves the faithful,

   but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.

²⁴ Be strong, and let your heart take courage,

   all you who wait for the Lord.

Amen.

 

If you wish to donate to Christian Aid please go to:

www.christianaid.org.uk

and you’ll find a donation button on the home page.

Thank you