I'm using this hymn today.  I don't know it, but it fits to the fairly well known tune Quem Pastores, and fits the theme of Jesus' Mother Roots...

Child of Abraham the wand'rer
leaving wealth enough to squander,
on God's promised hope to ponder -
Abram's child, hope for us all.

Child of Tamar stripped of honour,
bruised, abused for others' pleasure;
yet to God a priceless treasure -
Tamar's child, hurt for us all.

Child of Ruth, Naomi's shadow,
faithful friend to friendless widow,
destitute in harvest meadow -
Ruth's true child, befriend us all.

Child of Rahab, trait'rous harlot,
rescued by a cloth stained scarlet,
sharing God's invasion secret -
Rahab's child, come save us all.

Child of David's bride, Bathsheba,
victim of a lust most eager;
sign that God forgives for ever -
Sheba's child, forgive us all.

Child of Mary, virgin mother,
bearing for us God, our brother,
so we'd learn to love each other -
Mary's child - God with us all.

John Campbell based on Matthew 1vs1-21 © 2016

Sometimes there are those 'hmmm' moments that help me detect what God might be saying or doing, and this week there have been a few...

Spotting a link between the two services I've just done related to Safeguarding (on 'listening well' and 'forgiveness') and the series I am about to lead, which is a revisit of one I led in Dibley in 2006 and at The Gathering Place in 2018 looking at the women in Jesus' genealogy.

And then a link from both of these to the Bible Study series someone else is leading on the OT Joseph (him of the fancy coat).

And even a link to the Lent Series I'll be leading based on the film 'The Greatest Showman'.

Maybe, as someone wise said to me a lifetime ago, it's me making the connections, but I like to think that God has something to do with it.

Tomorrow I'm preaching about Tamar - one the stories that the Bible study series jumps past.  It's a story that is decidedly difficult to read as being remotely 'holy writ'.  It's interesting to reflect on the dysfunctional ancestry of Jesus of Nazareth, and to ponder what that might say about God.

Sophie has, this week, travelled a lot of miles to visit specialist vets.  We have gobbled up a lot of savings to cover insurance excesses, but a quick calculation shows that, over her lifetime, we are still ahead.  She is not a well cat, but she is a happy cat, a loved cat (all the vet nurses fall in love with her, and the vets aren't far behind) and she has a gentle plan to enable her to enjoy her life, however long or short it my be.

The photo is her in her 'chariot' - a two-cat cat pram that I recently bought to make it easier to take her and Sasha by train or bus to the vet, as taxis are prohibitively expensive, and the old carriers were nearing the end of useful life anyway.  Although not entirely keen to be placed in the carrier, once there, Sophie sits up and watches intently to see what is going around her.  Yesterday, she enjoyed an hour long sunset walk back from the specialist vet, before devouring half a tin of tuna and a fair amount of chicken for her tea.  As I say, a happy little cat, who enjoys the sun on her fur, the wind in her whiskers, and snuggles on my lap.

Already this week, Sophie has been blessed with an Aaronic blessing, and also with this from Andrew Linzey's 'Animal Rites':

Christ the healer

Liberate you from pain.

Christ the redeemer

Restore you to health

Christ the new creature

Make you whole.

Sophie's healing won't be physical cure, but healing as wholeness is a better prayer anyway.  Long or short, may the rest of her life be one of feline happiness and love.

This morning was the second of our services that emerged from the work of the Safeguarding Team, and explored, necessarily briefly, the challenging topic of forgiveness in relation to Safeguarding.  I was very grateful for the BUGB Level 3 participants' course notes to ensure that what I said cohered with the expectations.

We had two Bible readings... most of Psalm 51 and a chunk from Matthew 18...

We began with some photos and stories from this week's news: Axel Rudakubana, the man sentenced to life in prison for the Southport murders; Pamela Hemphill, the women who declined a pardon from Donald Trump for her part in the capitol riots; Bishop Marion Butte, who preached at an interfaith service for unity; Martin Luther King, who was recently commemorated; and an anti-racist Jewish group excluded from Holocaust Memorial Day events this week. 

The purpose of the stories was to prompt initial thoughts about the complexity of what forgiveness (and alongside that confession, repentance, redemption) means, and I think, overall, it was successful.

After sharing some insights from BUGB and MOSAC we turned our attention to King David.  I asked people to share words that came to mind when they thought of him, and those offered were:

• shepherd
• harpist/musician
• part of Jesus' family tree
• man of God
• Goliath (who he defeated)

I then offered some additional words from the wider story...

• womaniser
• adulterer (some might argue, rapist)
• murderer
• liar
• man of war/violence (this from God as to why he wasn't allowed to build a Temple)

We briefly explored some of the consequences of David's actions before exploring his confession and repentance. 

I pointed out that had David been part of our Church, he would have needed to step down from any leadership roles, and, if Bathsheba or any member of Uriah's family had been in the church, he'd have had to leave, and that we'd have needed to ensure he had a 'contract' in place wherever he went next.

Lastly, we turned to Matthew 18 and the words of Jesus to 'treat such a persons as you would a tax-collector' which I illustrated with a painting of Zaccheus in the tree, and left the question 'how did Jesus treat tax-collectors?'

I am sure this was not my finest ever sermon, it necessarily skimmed over a lot of ground, but it seemed to hold together some important truths about confession, repentance and forgiveness.  Noting, finally, that forgiveness is an incredibly complex process that is never going to be a quick fix, and may not always be possible in this life.

For our post sermon hymn, there was only one possibility, as far as I was concerned, and we sang of the God whose mercy is beyond anything we can understand or imagine...

There's a wideness in God's mercy,
like the wideness of the sea;
there's a kindness in his justice,
which is more than liberty.

There is no place where earth's sorrows
are more felt than in God's heaven:
there is no place where earth's failings
have such kindly judgement given.

For the love of God is broader
than the grasp of mortal mind;
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.

If our love were but more simple,
we would take him at his word;
and our lives be filled with glory
from the glory of the Lord.

Frederick William Faber (1814-1863

The outcomes from Project Violet continue to unfold, and over at the BUGB/Baptists Together website there is an increasing number of resources.  Among them is this one, for use within churches.

In a few weeks the Symposium website will be made public, and a gently tweaked version of my paper will be available to read, along with an original composition for bagpipes or fiddle...

Hard to beat a good bit of psalm-inspired liturgy imo!