The readings for today:

Psalm 84
1 Kings 6:1-4, 21-22
1 Corinthians 3:10-23

Psalm 84 is one of the beautiful lyrical psalms that has prompted the writing of more than a few hymns and worship songs.  Two that spring to mind are 'How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place' from the Northumbria Community and 'Better is One Day' by Matt Redman, there are any number of others, and if you google you can find them

The teeny exerpt from 1 Kings refers to Solomon building the Temple and emphasises its gold overlay.

1 Corinthians uses the building metaphor to describe the work Paul began and which is continued by his successors - building with straw, wood or gold, etc.  It makes for rather scary reading, and is often misused or misunderstood I fear.  I have a sneaky suspicion that what is being said, in part, is that in this life we will never know what is 'straw' and what is, after all, 'gold'.  I also have a sense that the hay or straw building is not worthless, just maybe worth less than that which transpires to be gold.  We all think we know which is gold, which is wood, which is hay, have our own tests for soundness of doctrine or practice, but are they, of themselves, just more straw?  Hmm.

Maybe everything I have done, everything I will do, will turn out to be straw, fleeting and readily burned up - but at least I'll have tried.  A few years ago when the Fresh Expressions DVD  was in vogue, I recall one story that really spoke to me, from a Methodist minister, who said, when it came his time to stand before God and give an account of his life, he would, if nothing else be able to say, with conviction "I tried"

"The wise man built his house upon the rock..."

But with what did he build?

Was his a purely function house of stone and wood?

Or a palace furnished with gold and jewels?

Was it built to house his family

Or to shelter anyone who came by?

Paul said

(arrogantly, and dare I suggest inaccurately)

That he laid the foundation

He also said

(more accurately)

That Christ is the foundation

And he said

(mixing his metaphors)

We are both building and builder

A house built on rock will withstand the storm better than one built on sand

A house built of brick will last longer than one made of straw

But is it simply the case that stronger and more ornate is better?

What kind of Temple does God choose?

I try, Lord, I try

I don't always know what or how or where to build

But I try

I do my best, Lord, I do my best

I don't know if I choose wisely or not

But I do my best

Divine Craftsperson

Builder and weaver

Clothing the fields with flowers and grass

(which after all is here to day and tomorrow burned in the fire)

Feeding the birds

(who do not reap or sow, or build barns to store grain)

Building your church

(of misshapen and misaligned human stones)

Show me where I fit in your creating

Show me how I create with you

May my best

(flawed though it is)

Be acceptable to you.

Two things I discovered this morning...

1 Most of my lovely peeps do not know the title song of this post.  So, if they happen to read this, here is:

2 Most of my lovely people did not know the story of Mephibosheth (2 Samuel, various) so I sent them off to read it for their homework.  So, big thanks to the LHBC, JBC and 1st D GB for telling this important story (I've known it since it was used in the last of those mentioned as a story about children in the Bible for the 'Splorers)

And this pretty amazing grace is...

unexpected

unchosen/unrequested

undeserved

unstinting

and

which is my answer to a comment after the service

unlimited/unbounded

One illustration I forgot to use was of grace in Christian theology as being what my mission tutor called cat-hold grace rather than monkey-hold grace.  The mother cat sees her kitten in peril, reaches down and picks it up, then runs to safety; the baby monkey senses danger and clambers onto the back of its mother, hoping for safety.  Eastern religions, he asserted, hold to the idea of monkey-hold grace (God is grace, we mst seek God) and Christianity has a a prevenient God who looks out for us.  The origin of this image is lost in time, my then tutor claimed he'd been taught it by a retired Methodist minister I knew and worked with in Dibley, and that they'd worked together in the Church of South India.  As a cat lover of course, I prefer God to be cat-like than ape-like!

As I type this, I am listening to Good Morning Sunday on Radio 2 where there is an excellent discussion around marriage taking place between the above people.  With generosity, and allowing diverse views to be expressed, they are talking very intelligently about marriage and its C21 expressions.  Ruth spoke very openly about her own journey of opinion.

Go listen - it began around 7:30-ish, so about ninety mins into the programme if you are on 'Listen Again'.  here's the link (update: it's at 1 hour 36 mins)

Go on... whatever you views... listen!

Today I am preaching on 'grace'.  I had planned to do 'sin and grace' - how stupid there is too much material in one of those, let alone both, for one service.  But first, a quick reflection from the Lectionary...

Exodus 20:1-17
Psalm 19
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
John 2:13-22

A strange mixture!  The ten (plus) commandments, the Psalm we have been pondering for a few days, Paul's introductory words to the Corinthians about the foolishness of the cross, and John's clearance of the Temple - here not in Holy Week but right at the start of Jesus' ministry (whether this is a clever literary device, or whether he knew of a second incident, or whether he just doesn't care about chronology, I leave you to decide).

It is interesting to juxtapose the Exodus and the John... a list of thou shalt/shalt nots and the total chaos in the Temple.  The religious authorities would have claimed they kept the Law to the letter but they had missed the point, it had become a stumbling block (to nick a phrase from the letter of Paul), more important not to have 'mucky money' than to have a space for worship; more important to tithe your mint and rue than to feed people who are hungry, more essential to point out fine details of the law to others than to love them...

I just wonder, if Jesus walked in to my congregation today what it is that would cause him to overturn the table, drive out the zealots.  I wonder who it is he would affirm and who condemn.  I wonder...

Loving God

Lead me from legalism to love

From proof texts to principles

From self-righteousness to right-living

Show me the

Tree trunk

In my eye

Then

(gently please!)

Pull it out

So that I can see

My lovely

Neighbour

Whom

You call me

To love

It's Saturday morning, I'm due out for a day's walking and I've already handled a couple of 'crisis' emails (friends not church), so what readings are in store for me in my state of rush today?  I honestly have not looked until now:

Psalm 19
Exodus 19:16-25
Mark 9:2-8

Well... just read them (this is the ultimate in live blogging!)

Exodus 19 has Moses up a mountain with God, and everyone else forbidden from trying to break through the cloud to see God.  Mark has Jesus up a mountain with Peter, James and John and being transfigured.  because its Mark we get the familiar 'don't tell anyone'  Psalm 19 is still Psalm 19, lovely as ever.

Today I am off out walking.  I will be away from church (though not away from church people, it is after all a Churches Walking Club), I will be away from the laptop, I will be away from the phone.  If not impossible, it will be less easy for the everyday to 'break through', as the NRSV phrases it in the Exodus reading, I will have more opportunity for rest and/or reflection and/or encounter with God.

Perhaps that's what I need to hear today.  Perhaps for me it is the 'come apart for a while' that is the message.

Come away with me

To a quiet place

Shrouded in silence

Hidden from noise

And be

But Lord, my friends needs me

There is work to be done

Calls to make

Emails to send...

Come away with me

To a quiet place

Let nothing break through

The cloud of presence

And be

But Lord, my mind is whirling

There are sermons to prepare

Prayers to pray

Visits to make

Ironing to be done...

Come away with me

To a quiet place

Empty your busy mind

Enter the stillness

And be

But Lord..

Be

But

Be

...

Be