Here is the text from my talk given at All Saints Worcester this morning for our Remembrance Day service:
At times like this, when we attempt to grapple with the contradictions and tensions of human life, questions of faith and the existence of God, naturally rise to the surface.
This week we have had news reports from both the British and US military of soldiers being murdered by their own.
We hear increasingly of our soldiers losing their lives to hidden incendiary devices.
My job is not to pass comment on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
It is to help us pause and find God in all the madness and mayhem.
At times like this, many understandably reflect and come to the conclusion that with so much violence, evil, tyranny and death being experienced by people all round the world, God cannot possibly exist.
Or if he does, he must be a distant, disconnected, disinterested and angry God who has left us to kill ourselves off.
Many conclude that God, if he exists at all, cannot be good if he causes or allows such horrendous suffering to occur. He certainly appears to be doing nothing to bring an end to conflict and war.
On this basis, many decide they want nothing to do with him at all.
This of course, raises another question. One which fewer people dare ask, never mind seek to answer: without God, what hope do we have?
Some conclude that our hope is to be found in scientific and technological advance.
For others, it is a mix of Dawkinsian and Darwinian evolution that will eventually help humanity to conquer it’s own dysfunctions.
A shrinking number still put their hope in our global leaders to find ways for peace to prevail. Indeed, President Obama’s campaign used the idea of “hope” brilliantly to reinforce perceptions that he truly could change the world.
A trip through Worcester city centre on a Friday night would suggest that an increasing majority do not hold out much hope at all, and so instead lose themselves in the moment.
The reason why across the country churches are remembering is because there is another perspective.
God is not distant and disinterested. God is doing something about evil and war. God has already done something about it.
God does not cause the suffering, and nor has He stormed off in a huff, leaving us to deal with our own mess.
He has stepped down in to it, right in to the hurt, pain, conflict and death, to bring new life.
The prophet Isaiah told us that “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; for unto us a son is given, the Prince of Peace”.
Not a peace-broker, or peace-keeper. A peace-maker. God has come as a peacemaker. The ultimate peacemaker. The Prince of Peace.
Jesus Christ.
He is the answer to our questions:
- Where are you God? Here I am.
- What are you doing to stop the madness? Conquering death.
- What is our hope? The promise of a redeemed and restored creation.
There is an irony worth noting here.
When the Prince of Peace finally arrived he, too, was cut down in his prime, as the brutal military empire of the first century did what brutal military empires have always done.
And so this morning we remember not only the many who have lost their lives in the quest for peace, but also the One who came in peace, who in dying, made it possible for the world to be changed.
The purpose of remembering is to draw us into a hopeful future.
We live between the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth and the final establishment of the kingdom be came to bring, the kingdom in which justice and peace shall be knit together at last and for ever .
And as the church of Christ – people of peace – we are entrusted with a mission.
Not simply to save a few souls from the wreck of this world, since God so loved the world and has promised to redeem it. Nor simply to tinker with the world’s own systems, merely to do things a bit differently here or there.
No: rather, by prayer and courage, and holiness and hard work – and it will be hard work – we are called to discover the practical ways in today’s and tomorrow’s world of seeking justice without violence, of making and maintaining peace without tyranny.
The world says it can’t be done.
We who honour those who gave their lives, and who do so in the name of the Prince of Peace, are committed to saying it can be and will be.
That is why every act of Remembrance must also be a moment of decision and faith – perhaps for someone here today, to follow the Prince of Peace and become a peacemaker.
It is a rededication of our own lives, to serve the God of justice and the Prince of Peace and to follow wherever they may lead.
Let us pray.
A dear friend just emailed me, saying she’d “figured me out”. Here is her conclusion:
- one topic per email.
- ..preferrably sent to Rach (my P.A.).
- pack cars efficiently.
- drive safe but quick.
- lasagne.
- chocolate.
- coffee.
- kingdom living.
She just missed two things…
- My family.
- Good red wine.
That makes 10.
What are your ten?
I’ve had four emails this month from younger leaders asking me how I work. An interesting question, and one that I think it’s worth actually answering in a blog post. Often what trips up leaders is not a lack of vision or focus or gifting or opportunities. It’s not having the right systems and habits in place.
Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about these sorts of things. Many people think I am very organised and administrative. I’m actually not. Trust me. Ask my wife or my p.a.! My wife has the gift of patience, and my p.a. has the spiritual gift of administration. Both make me look hopelessly disorganised in comparison. But I’ve put some systems and habits in place to ensure that I work as smart and effectively as possible. Some are things I need to have in place to compensate for my weaknesses, other things are there because they are simply good ideas or things to do that will work for all, and others still are just plain common sense.
So… as a starter in this series, let me outline how I work with technology on a general day-to-day basis and why.
I only use one computer. It’s a nice 2.4Ghz MacBook running OSX Leopard, iLife, iWork and Microsoft Office for Mac. It syncs to our church server and I backup to our personal external hard drive. I also use MobileMe for certain backups (more on that another time). In my experience, having two computers – e.g. a personal one and a work one – gets too confusing. I want everything in one place.
My phone is just a phone. I have a simple Nokia phone which I use for making calls and texting. I don’t have one that I can do anything else with – no web, no emails, no diary, no music. My phone is just that… a phone. I spend the minimum possible on it – on average $25 pay-as-you-go credit/month, and use it as little as possible. I encourage people to call me at home or work, or to email/Tweet me/text me. I happily give people my direct dial at work so they can call me directly. When I get home after work I switch it to “Home” profile – filtering out most work calls (not my “boss” or p.a.). I turn it off during all meetings and all meals. People know where I am and so if there is an emergency they can always get hold of me another way.
People often ask why I don’t have an iPhone. Part of me would love one, but I consciously don’t for the following reasons. I’m not important enough to need a Blackberry or iPhone. I think that from a productivity point of view there would be limited gain (if any) from me having a phone that is part computer. From a more holistic self-care/boundaries perspective, I have decided that I simply don’t want to be online all the time.
Facebook is great for some things and terrible for others. I use it as purely to keep in touch with my friends and family, primarily those in other countries to us. I do not follow any work-related people on Facebook, nor have friends on there who are not genuinely friends. I do not use the Facebook inbox and my friends know that. I have disabled all notifications and set it to say no to all those pesky “application invitations”! I have very few applications installed other than the standard ones and I have turned off the chat function too. I do not update my Facebook status. All of this means that I use it in a controlled way, that does not invade my time or my family time, and in a way that works for me.
Twitter is a different beast to Facebook and I love it. Again, I have a clear rationale for how I use it. It is to network, communicate and keep up to date with trends/blogs/resources/ideas. I do not use it to keep up with my friends or family (that’s what Facebook is for!). I use it connect with my colleagues, peers, the people I lead and mentors. I follow certain people whose work/blogs/ideas feed and resource me. I don’t follow celebrities or randoms. Anyone can follow me, but I don’t automatically follow someone just because they decided to follow me. I will say more about how I use Twitter in a separate post.
Email. I have a love-hate relationship with email! I love it because it can be efficient and effective. I hate it because I have so much of it. I have three accounts I use: work, home, professional. I do not use Facebook or Twitter as a surrogate email client. My work account is for all St Paul’s related work, but nothing else. My home account is for all personal/family stuff but not work or my wider professional work. My professional account is used for networking beyond work and my involvement in trusts and boards.
I only check my work email three times a day: when I first sit down to work, after lunch, before leaving for the day. I do not have my work email set to notify me beyond these times. I do not check it at home (unless working from home) or during my days/time off. I direct as much work related email to my p.a. as possible, who filters out a lot, responds to a lot and then passes on what I should/must respond to.
GMail chat and Skype are vital tools for us as we seek to maintain long distance relationships, but also connect with others in ministry around the world. I have set GMail chat up on both my home and professional email accounts to only allow certain people to see my online status. Those are people I don’t mind being interrupted by, but don’t expect to be constantly nudged by. Skype is great for connecting with parent, close friends, God-children etc. I only place one limit on Skype – I only Skype if both parties have video, otherwise we just call on the phone – the line quality is not good enough to justify a free, faceless call when we have GoTalk phone cards that give us 1000 minutes for $20!
There are some other more assorted things I do which I find helpful. I always carry around with my a 2GB USB stick for file transfers, quick backups and when I don’t want to lug my laptop with me. I carry a digital dictaphone with me at all times, to capture inspiration for teaching/preaching. I often get an idea that is best captured by me speaking it there and then.
Interesting? Helpful? Want more? Let me know.
Everywhere U2 have gone to promote their latest album “No Line On The Horizon”, Bono has sung “Magnificent”, which is one of the highlight songs on the album.
Check out the BBC rooftop gig version here.
Here are the lyrics:
Magnificent
MagnificentI was born
I was born to be with you
In this space and time
After that and ever after I haven’t had a clue
Only to break rhyme
This foolishness can leave a heart black and blueOnly love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scarI was born
I was born to sing for you
I didn’t have a choice but to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice
From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise…Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scarJustified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent
MagnificentOnly love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love unites our heartsJustified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent
Magnificent
Magnificent
If that is not bold, from the rooftops worship and proclamation, by a man who walks with Jesus, then I do not know what is.
Here’s where we gotta be
Love and community
Laughter is eternity
If joy is real
- Bono (“Get On Your Boots” from No Line on the Horizon)
