Charles Darwin

Most people have an opinion of Charles Darwin. And those that don't will have by this time next year.

As the Natural History Museum opens its doors to a new Darwin exhibition, a year of lectures, events, publications, debates, and exhibitions gets underway. Even the most devoted Darwinist might be a little tired by December 2009.

For some, Darwin is the great liberator, a scientific Moses leading his benighted people out of the intellectual slavery of superstition and ignorance. For others, he is the great Satan, architect of a theory that led to atheism, materialism and genocide.

Neither picture is remotely accurate.

Darwin himself was a rather ordinary man. He did have extraordinary gifts of observation, patience, association and speculation. And he was also remarkably courteous and respectful (qualities not immediately obvious in some of his modern disciples). But beyond that, he lived a somewhat conventional, mid-Victorian life.

He did lose his Christian faith but, in truth, that faith owed rather more to the ordered, rational, natural theology of William Paley than to any personal, Christ-centred conviction. 'I do not think that the religious sentiment was ever strongly developed in me,' he admitted in his Autobiography.

Moreover, he lost it for a good reason - not so much his theory of evolution (although that played a part) but more because he witnessed his favourite child, Annie, aged ten, die a slow, painful and degrading death. Few people, no matter how strong their faith, could endure such a loss without severe doubts. In this, as in so much else, Darwin has much to teach us.

Darwin's Christianity was more philosophical than theological, built on the seemingly secure foundation of universal human reason, rather than on the particularities of the Christian story, let alone the counter-intuitive scandal of the incarnation and crucifixion. Yet, as soon as Christianity moves away from the foot of the cross and loses sight of the crucified God, it became defenceless against accusations of suffering and injustice. No amount of philosophical justification or arguments for the immortality of soul is enough. The pain, the sense of injustice, the sense of loss becomes overwhelming. Christianity stands by the cross or it doesn't stand at all.

In truth, Darwin's own faith never stood anywhere near the foot of the cross. But which of us can say ours does?

Nick Spencer (LICC)

KNOWING FOR CERTAIN

SUNSET ON THE PEMBOKESHIRE COAST PATH MJ2006

IT'S INTERESTING HOW THIS KEEPS COMING BACK AGAIN......SEE PREVIOUS BLOGS AND SERMONS ON 'I KNOW THE PLANS...'(JER 29:11).
WE ARE REMINDED YET AGAIN THAT IF GOD KNOWS THE PLANS, THAT IS ENOUGH FOR NOW, EVEN THOUGH WE CANNOT SEE AT PRESENT.

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, 'Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own.' Genesis 15:12

Being one person (or one family, one community, one small business) in the middle of a very big picture can be very disturbing. 'My hands are tied', 'I cannot change the outcome', 'I don't know how to protect myself', 'I don't know where to turn', 'I don't know what to do'.

God had given Abram grounds for ambitious expectations about the future, a belief that his dynasty would make the world a better place, a sense that he had a big part in God's plans, but he could see nothing. He had only glimmers of understanding that any of this would happen. There was only darkness. He could not see the big picture. So, God said to him, 'Don't worry - I know what will happen to you. Just know for certain that these are my plans for you and they will work out. in the long run.'

Abram would not see any of these long-term plans work out, nor, incidentally, would he know that the promises would only be fulfilled completely at the end of time. The picture is much bigger than the son who has not yet been born to him, much bigger than his descendants, much bigger than the children of Israel living in the Promised Land, or exiled from it. The picture is the whole of human history.

We cannot see the whole any more than Abram could - and his calling was special and unique. We cannot tell what part in God's plan our little moments play. We, too, sometimes are in places of darkness. But we can know for certain that the God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ is wholly trustworthy, will keep all his promises and will make sure that his best of all plans works out in the end. Meanwhile, as an essential part of that plan, we walk with him circumspectly, ethically, and joyfully, even in the dark, knowing that we are writing our own unique and highly significant story into God's big one.

THANKS TO Margaret Killingray (LICC)
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An astounding story !

It was either the most astounding coincidence, or an act of God; literally. The small Methodist Church needed a new building, so when somebody donated a piece of land they accepted. It was low-lying land so they constructed a wooden church and put it up on brick pilings. Days later a storm lashed the town and the locals witnessed something amazing. The church building, still intact, was afloat! The flood had lifted it off its pilings and sent it down the road. At the town centre, as dozens of people watched helplessly, it made a sharp, inexplicable right turn and continued on. Finally, in the same decisive manner it veered off the road, it headed straight for a vacant lot and stopped dead in the centre! The flood waters eventually receded but the building is still there. In fact, 130 years have passed since the church, now called Providence Methodist Church, floated itself to the most desirable location in town. What’s amazing is this: The lot where it settled had originally been the congregation’s first choice for their building, but landowner Sam Sadler turned them down. The morning after the flood, he presented the pastor with the deeds to the land! ‘”For I am the Lord. I speak, and the word which I speak will come to pass”’ (Ezekiel 12:25). No doubt about it; when God makes up His mind, nothing gets in His way!
Thanks to 'Word for Today'www.ucb.co.uk

Remembering all of you

Barmston, East Yorkshire MJ2004

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart. Phil.1:4, 7

Astonishingly, Paul, who met so many people on his constant travels, appears to have remembered the individual Philippian believers, holding them all in his heart, and 'longing for them with the affection of Christ Jesus' (v.8). He wrote to the Philippians from prison; yet, far from going on about his own problems, his concern was focused on them.

Innumerable people come into and out of our lives, year after year. But how many of them do we consciously remember? Of all the people that I have known, the one with the most phenomenal memory is John Stott. Over the years, in his teaching ministry, John met thousands of Christians all over the world. When a man from India, say, whom John had met three years before in Chennai, came to London to attend a course at LICC, John would welcome him by name, and then ask by name after his wife and children. An extraordinary memory and meticulously kept records, no doubt. But also an extraordinary love. A love that cherished every individual. A love that prayed.

The story is told of a young man who forgot an appointment with John. When he rang up, mortified, to apologise, John replied, 'I used to forget engagements too, until I started praying through my diary every morning'.

We are often embarrassed when we forget people - particularly if they remember us! But there is a more frequent - indeed, almost daily - forgetfulness, which is less excusable. When I forget a phone call, a neighbour's operation, or a colleague's child's illness.When my personal concerns stop me from listening to someone else's. isn't it often though a lack of prayer and a lack of love?

In a climate in which people don't really listen to each other, and so readily forget others' needs, an outstanding witness to Christian love is simply this: to remember and to ask: 'Is your wife better?' 'How did your son do in his exams?' 'How did that difficult meeting turn out?'

And sometimes one can say, 'Would you like me to pray for you?' And surprisingly often the answer may be 'Yes'.

Helen Parry (LICC)

Why Go To Church?

FONTEVRAULT CHAPEL, TINTAGEL MJ2006
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A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher: "I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this... They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"
When you are DOWN to nothing.... God is UP to something!
Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible!
Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!

St Patrick’s Breastplate

This poem/hymn attributed to Patrick (5th Century)may seem quite strange to us today.
But I challenge you to pray it... it is immensely powerful.

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of the holy Virgin,
In deeds of righteous men.

I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.
I bind to myself today
God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to uphold me,
God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to give me speech,
God's Hand to guide me,
God's Way to lie before me,
God's Shield to shelter me,
God's Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.

I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.

Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort, [i.e., at home]
Christ in the chariot seat, [i.e., travelling by land]
Christ in the poop. [i.e., travelling by water]

Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

Helping those who are sorry they messed up

'IF A MAN IS OVERTAKEN IN ANY TRESPASS...RESTORE SUCH A ONE IN A SPIRIT OF GENTLENESS.' GALATIANS 6:1

When somebody messes up, God says; 'Restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.' But what if they've disgraced themselves and provided fodder for the sceptics who already think all Christians are hypocrites? Why bother with somebody like that?
Firstly, : Because the Bible says, 'If a man is overtaken [caught by surprise]...[consider] yourself lest you also be tempted.' If it happened to you you'd want somebody to help you, right? And if you're thinking you would never embezzle money, have an affair or slap a child in anger, think again. When you're under financial pressure, sleep deprived, lonely and depressed, or your marriage is on shaky ground, you might be surprised what you'd do. Paul says, 'We are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don't be so...self-confident...You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else' (1 Corinthians 10:12 TM).
Secondly, : Because Jesus is your example. While He had no time for Pharisees who hid their sins under a religious facade, not once did He condemn anybody who was 'overtaken' by temptation and failure. When they repented He forgave and restored them. Theologian Victor Shepherd writes: 'When we're face-to-face with someone who's been surprised because trespass overtook them, do we deflect their shame back into their face, or do we own it as ours? Do we rub their nose in it, or do we absorb it, put an arm around them and affirm our solidarity-in-sinnership? Do we regard ourselves as superior, or do we say, "Take my hand...I know the way to the cross?"'
The word trespass comes from the word 'misstep,' which means to take a step in the wrong direction or to make an error in judgement or conduct. When you lose your footing or you slip on an icy sidewalk, you didn't intend to fall but now it's happened and you need help to get back up again. That's the kind of trespass the Bible talks about when it says, 'Restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.' In Greek the word restore has two shades of meaning:
1. Resetting a broken bone. Paul says, 'Christ makes us one body...connected to each other' (Romans 12:5 GWT). When you think about it, your spiritual family is even more important than your physical family because it will last forever. By reinstating a brother or sister who has been overtaken by sin, you help to heal their pain and enable them to become a vital, functioning part of Christ's body again.
2. Removing a tumour. Malignant tumours are life-threatening and spiritual tumours are soul-threatening. By removing one you not only help save somebody, you obey the Scripture, 'Bear one another's burdens, and...fulfil the law of Christ' (Galatians 6:2 NKJV). And make no mistake, sharing their shame and humiliation is a burden. Nevertheless, 'We should do it... [giving] special attention to those who are in the family of believers' (Galatians 6:10 NCV). In God's army we are not supposed to shoot our wounded. Indeed, if the wounded can't find mercy in the ranks of the redeemed, where are they going to find it?

The Word for Today 25/26 Sep 2008 www.ucb.co.uk

shift to thrift

It has often been said that Jesus talked about MONEY (in one form or another) more than any other subject. In our culture the challenge comes to us something like this: 'What are you doing with your money, posessions, gifts, skills and time? Are they invested for God's glory?'
On the other side of the coin (!) is the issue of debt. How about this for a question?: 'Are you getting credit for something you really need, and can you afford to repay it?'
Peter Heslam (Director, Transforming Business, Cambridge University) has written this excellent article on 'thrift', which I recommend you read more than once. Entirely pragmatic, he also effectively tackles the knotty question of 'laying up treasure on earth' v 'putting your money to work' . What do you think?

Recovering Thrift to Solve the Credit Crisis

The credit crunch stems from a deeper moral and spiritual crunch. At stake is a virtue on which capitalism depends - thrift. Resolving the crisis will involve a recovery of this virtue.

Most westerners have long had access to grassroots saving institutions, such as building societies and credit unions. But recently, while commercial banks have focused their investment opportunities on 'high net worth individuals', financial institutions targeting the 'sub-prime' market have proliferated. The growth of this anti-thrift sector is partly responsible for the high levels of consumer debt that have become an accepted feature of advanced economies, but now threaten to undermine them.

This raises questions not only about the morality of debt, about which today's moral and religious leaders are generally outspoken, but also about the importance of thrift, about which such leaders are generally silent.

Despite this silence, Hebrew and Christian scriptures support a theology of thrift. Literally, thrift means 'prosperity' or 'well-being', meanings encompassed in the Hebrew notion of shalom, which is central to the biblical theme of redemption. True, Jesus warned against laying up treasure on earth. But his warning is against greed and miserliness, which undermine thrift. In fact, the fear that generally accompanies these vices is evident in the words and actions of the third servant in Jesus' parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). This servant's fear, based on a harsh picture of God, led to actions that were unimaginative, unproductive and risk-averse.

In contrast, the fearless words and actions of the two servants who 'put their money to work', reflect a God who inspires the imagination, productivity and risk-taking that characterize the thrift needed to convert barren money into fruitful capital. Having made this conversion, which underlies all investment and entrepreneurship, these two servants are welcomed into God's shalom economy: 'I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness.' Their thrift leads to stewardship and happiness. This resonates with two further meanings of thrift: 'prudence' and 'providence', words that appear in the names of two large companies that began as explicitly pro-thrift institutions: the Prudential and Friends Provident.

Opinion formers emphasizing 'happiness' should draw inspiration from the way happiness is obtained in Jesus' parable, to mount a public education campaign on thrift, linked to government-backed bonds to be sold at National Lottery ticket outlets. Millions of consumers, currently bombarded with gambling and credit options, would thus be offered the freedom and opportunity to save. This is the freedom and opportunity of the market economy - an economy built on thrift.

I know the plans.... PAUL and GUIDANCE

'Well, obviously not this way....'

We've been challenged by God so much recently about Jeremiah 29:11 'I know the plans I have for you' says the Lord.... (see parallel 'sermons' blog and also below).
I got this article today from LICC which takes us a further step along the way...

Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us'. After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. Phil.16:9-10

At a critical juncture in Paul's life, thwarted and unsure, he received an unambiguous vision. And so began the journey into Europe of the good news of Jesus.

Luke tells us that immediately before this, heading north towards the provinces bordering the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, Paul and his companions were 'hindered by the Spirit'. These few verses in Acts show us that guidance wasn't a simple matter for Paul. Only three times do we read that he had a vision. Often he was no doubt guided by common sense, as, in this same chapter, when, arriving in Philippi, they sought out the Jews by the river 'where they expected to find a place of prayer' (v.13).

When Paul set out on his first journey, the Spirit spoke to the church, not to him personally. So he and Barnabas were sent out ('by the Spirit') together. Perhaps the decision to go first to Cyprus was simply because that was where Barnabas came from. Later, a quarrel between the two of them resulted in their going off in different directions - and thus two evangelistic teams grew out of one.

Elsewhere, Paul describes himself as being stopped by Satan from going to Thessalonica (1 Thes.2:18); the visit to Jerusalem recorded in Acts 15 was not part of his plan, but was dictated by circumstances; his longed-for arrival in Rome was not according to his own agenda, but as a prisoner, under guard.

Most of us struggle with guidance, particularly when critical decisions have to be taken. Paul's experience shows us that there are no simple, formulaic solutions. So appropriating to oneself a single verse or example from scripture can be very unhelpful. Even more unhelpful is the friend who says, 'God guided me like this, so he will guide you in the same way'.

God had a purpose for Paul's life, but it wasn't a blueprint. Motivated by his calling, and his love of Christ, he constantly 'pressed towards the goal'. Sometimes his guidance was clear, sometimes not. Whether or not we have a clear calling, or explicit guidance, we, too, seek in everything to govern our lives by the principles of Christ.

thanks again to LICC (Helen Parry)

The Power of Story

A hotel executive tells this story:

'The hotel I manage is located near a renowned hospital. Recently, we noticed that a man and a boy were visiting regularly and surmised that they were father and son, and that the son was undergoing treatment at the hospital. One evening, the father sent the boy up to bed and called over the head waiter. "My son is about to start chemotherapy tomorrow," he said. "He's really upset at the prospect of his hair falling out, so he's decided to shave it all off tonight. I'm going to do the same to support my son. When you see us tomorrow morning, please don't react."

'The head waiter was touched by the story and briefed his colleagues. The next morning, father and son came down with bald heads, feeling rather nervous. But, as they went in to breakfast, they gradually realised they weren't the only ones who looked a bit different that day. No fewer than ten members of staff had shaved their heads out of solidarity with the boy.'

'That,' she concluded, 'is how my staff live the corporate value, "Show you care."' (As reported by Hashi Syedain in People Management magazine.)

It's no surprise that business is beginning to exploit so movingly 'the power of story' for its capital gain. It's only natural, surely: we make sense of life by sharing stories with each other, so why shouldn't we make sense of our work in the same way? It seems there is life after 'death-by-PowerPoint', after all.

And what of our faith? We talk much, in Christian circles, of 'the power of story', as custodians of the Greatest Story Ever Told (GSET). But do we still prefer to leap to the 'moral' of the tale, rather than inhabit the story itself - with its unresolved tensions, suspense and wonder?

It takes courage to reflect upon our own story: where we've come from, the characters who've played their parts, the times when the plot has twisted for good or bad. And it takes creativity to demonstrate how it fits with the GSET - the masterful narrative that imbues our smaller stories with meaning, yet is somehow, mysteriously, shaped by their very unfolding.

Hardest of all, perhaps, is to attend, with grace, to the story of others. Yet surely the power flows most fully between those who are usually denied a voice, and those with ears to hear. Thank you for listening.

Brian Draper (LICC)