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What quality matters most in a church leader? There are many candidates. • Integrity • Servant Heart • Compassion • Hard work • Holiness • Wisdom • A healthy devotional life All of the above are important, of course. Especially that last one. Today, however, I’d like to offer a candidate that is sometimes either ignored or taken for granted. • Relationship builder/maintainer/repairer I was inspired to write on this after reading the following quote by Pete Greig. Here it is, slightly paraphrased. 85% of my time as a pastor is invisible. It’s spent behind the scenes building teams. Not preaching. Not counselling. Not studying. Nothing worth sharing on social media. Not even praying. ?Most of my waking, working day is spent quietly choreographing the space between people, noticing, listening and over-communicating, pre-empting problems. Whenever the pH is right in the soil, seeds sprout naturally, fruit forms inevitably in season. As in nature, so in super-nature: whenever teams are healthy, culture thrives, life reproduces life, fruit forms in season. But when relationships go wrong, everything swerves to rot. It’s exhausting and demoralising. Businesses, charities, and churches alike quickly become driven and machine-like whenever their leaders start prioritising productivity above people, results above relationships. I wish they spent longer on these soft skills in seminaries and business schools. I wish we looked for EQ as much as IQ in those who aspire to be our executives, our politicians and our pastors. I long for leaders who understand that being relational and nurturing healthy relationships is not just a desirable part of the job. It is the job. In the famous words of the late, great Peter Drucker: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” And in the even more famous words of the greatest leader of all time (addressed to his own rather unimpressive senior team): “I have called you friends.” (John.15.15) Relationships with people. Not results. Not numbers. Nothing to do with presenting a favourable image. Social media, programs, money, reputation–nowhere to be seen. Just people. It’s the people who matter, and of course, it’s the people who cause the problems. Not the computers or the building, or the publicity, or the sermon preparation. The people. Why are relationships so important? And why does Pete Greig see them as absolutely central to leadership? Here are my thoughts. 1) God is relational at his very core. We don’t spend nearly enough time on the doctrine of the Trinity.* If we did, we’d soon enter into the extraordinary truth that God is God-in-community. A mutually, self-supportive, love-giving community of three persons possessed of the singular divine essence. God is not one, but three-in-one. As such, he is eternally ‘in relationship.’ Indeed, in perfect relationship. And this truth expresses the very core of his being. For he is love, and how could he be love without another to love? No, he did not create us because he was lonely. He created us to enjoy the intimacy of his relational being. We are invited into the very centre of his three-ness, nestled in there between Father, Son, and Spirit, loved by those who in their unity share the divine essence. Why is leadership about relationship? Because we worship a fundamentally relational being, for whom relationships are an essential part of his being. They’re not ‘out there,’ or ‘optional.’ They are the essence of who he is. Because he is love. As his image-bearers, we mirror God to the world. That means relationships are essential to us too. And even more than that, they are an essential part of being human. As John Donne noted, ‘No man is an island.’ Not ‘don’t be an island.’ Instead, he’s saying something quite different. He’s saying, ‘To be human, it is not possible to be an island.’ In the Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis, a narrator is taken on a bus trip to hell. There, he is shown houses, where people live alone. The further into hell he goes, the further apart they are. It is no surprise that some say that a person with no relationships is no longer human at all. I’m not sure about that claim, but the truth remains: Relationships are essential to us, as they are essential to God. 2) The church is a body. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Eph. 4.15 You’re hiking up in the hills. A small stone works its way into your boot. A blister develops. It hurts a lot. Now, all you can think of is your sore heel. It’s no good telling yourself that your elbow feels fine, so you don’t need to think about your heel. Or your eyes are working well. Because frankly, the view doesn’t look nearly as good now that you can think of nothing else but your heel that is screaming at you. We are a body. We are all connected. When one part is suffering, we all suffer. But more importantly, perhaps, we are connected in relationship to each other. We are not necessarily responsible for every single need in the community, but we are connected. As the leader, you are ‘in relationship’ with all the members of your church. In large churches, you may not know everyone well, but make no mistake, every relationship is important. And the closer you are to them—elder board, associate pastor, children/youth leader—the more important the relationship. The whole church is a web of relationships, each one an engine generating the aroma of Christ to the glory of God, when it is working well, in self-giving love. As the leader, you model relationship to everyone else in the church. If you’re isolated, or falling out with people, the effect on the church is significant. Because you’re an important part of the body. 3) Love is the most important thing in the universe. Need I write more? God is love. To live like him, we are called to love like him. That entails relationship, of course. So when people hurt us, or disappoint us, our response demonstrates either love or our lack of it. Avoidance, procrastination, passive aggression, manipulation—they are all ways in which we fail to show love. Let’s add denial, pretense, patronising, and ignoring. Because leaders have power, they have an arsenal of different responses to protect themselves. But they need just one: love and all that flows from it. 4) Grace is about the restoration of relationship. Every week when we share communion, or preach on the cross, we help people to focus on the restoration of relationship. We’re not saved to ‘wait for heaven.’ We’re saved so that we can know, enjoy, and bring glory to God. We’re saved for relationship. Grace is the very heart of the gospel, so it is the height of hypocrisy for a leader to preach the gospel of grace, knowing that relationships are broken. That’s unacceptable. It damages the preaching of the gospel, and harms the leader’s reputation. Why should we listen to a person who talks about God’s forgiveness, but who refuses to reach out to someone at odds with him? Why respect someone who seems to place so little value on repairing relationships when they’re damaged? Nurturing, maintaining, and repairing our relationships isn’t an option. As Pete Greig points out, it is the job. It’s the job! This is a subject that will run and run. I will be coming back to it. Today, here are a few questions to ruminate on through the week. Do I have any broken relationships in my community that I need to repair? What am I doing to nurture my most important relationships? Eg. How well am I supporting and encouraging my co-leaders (associate minister/elders/youth leader etc) How could I improve? How often do I admit to my own mistakes, taking responsibility, and seeking forgiveness? How is God speaking to me about my relationships? What is he saying as I sit here after reading this post? Take a few minutes to listen. Then respond. *I recommend Embracing the Trinity. Fred Sanders. IVP. 2010.

“What I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” These words close Mark 13, the chapter recording Jesus’ ‘Olivet Discourse’. Jesus has spoken about future events, both the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in AD 70 and his still-awaited return in glory. Faced with wars and rumours of wars, He calls his disciples to remain faithful, trusting in His Word and Spirit’s enabling as they continue the task of preaching the gospel to all nations. Three times in the closing verses of Mark 13, Jesus says “stay awake”. That means more than noticing what is happening in the world. It means awareness of what God is doing and focus on His purposes. In our age of instant information, we hear of wars and see the images. We may think we are alert because we are informed, but Jesus challenges us to a different level of consciousness –awareness of God’s work and assurance of God’s timing. So, are you wide awake? The same word translated ‘stay awake’ in Mark 13 appears another three times in Mark 14 (‘watch’ in the ESV). Jesus is back with the disciples on the Mount of Olives a few days after his Olivet Discourse. In between, we have read of the plot to kill Him, His anointing in Bethany, Judas’ decision to betray Him, His last Passover meal and institution of the Lord’s Supper, and His prediction of Peter’s denial. Now, He goes to the Garden of Gethsemane. As He turns to prayer, He commands His disciples to “Stay here and watch” (verse 34). You know what happened next. They slept! Three times, Jesus came to them and rebuked them. Specifically, He spoke to Simon Peter, saying, “Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation” (verses 37-38). Three times in Gethsemane, Jesus came to the disciples and found them sleeping. Three times in Mark 13 and another three times in Mark 14, He charged them to stay awake. Three times Peter would deny Jesus just as Jesus had said he would shortly before He went to Gethsemane. Reflecting on Jesus’ command to Peter to stay awake, I was drawn to Peter’s letters, where the apostle passes on the lessons he has learned to a new generation of believers. In 1 Peter 5:8, he writes: Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Satan wants to destroy God’s work of God and prevent God’s work through us. We must be alert to his lies. So, what is Satan’s chief tactic against you? Is it temptation to a specific besetting sin? Or perhaps doubts about the faith or your ability to hold on to it? Maybe he accuses you, saying you cannot be forgiven, that you are beyond God’s grace. Behind each of these attacks are Satan’s lies. The lie that you cannot resist the temptation or that giving into it will bring happiness. The lie that God’s Word cannot be trusted or that your own ability to hold on is what saves. The lie that Christ’s sacrifice was not enough or that God’s promise never to abandon you is unreliable. Hear the words of the apostle Peter, forged in the crucible of experience. Be watchful for Satan, alert to his schemes. It is not only Peter who reminds us of Jesus’ command to stay awake and be watchful. The apostle Paul does so too. In Colossians 4:2, he writes: Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. We must watch out for diabolical opposition, but we must also be watchful for divine opportunities. Steadfast in prayer, noticing what God is doing and giving thanks for it as we seek His wisdom and leading. So, are you continuing steadfastly in prayer? Do you simply go through the motions or do you pray because you know it is only through prayer that we can see as God sees, love as God loves and act as Christ acts. Be watchful in prayer, alert to God’s leading. We have another use of the same verb by the apostle Paul, in Acts 20:28-32 where he speaks to the Ephesian elders: Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert We need to stay alert to the possibility that some of those who have been appointed to shepherd the flock will instead abuse it. We have heard the stories in recent years, but the apostle predicted it. We must recognise that could even be us. Listen to Paul’s charge. The Church belongs to God. It was obtained with His own blood. And our task of overseeing it is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Yet, Paul says, fierce wolves will come among the flock and they may even arise from among these elders. What turns a shepherd into a wolf? Marcus Honeysett’s book Powerful Leaders? for an insightful analysis. Put simply here, though, it is the pursuit of a following. When unchecked, the desire to be successful, to have an impact, to leave a legacy can go awry. When it becomes about ourselves – my reputation, my legacy, my ministry – not the Lord – His glory, His inheritance, His service – we have a problem. So, who are you making disciples for – yourself or Jesus? Do you speak much about Jesus, or do you tend to drift into talking about yourself? Are you encouraging people towards maturity and healthy dependence on Him or keeping them as infants with an unhealthy dependency on you? Does the way you lead suggest that you are aware of the sacred trust you have, to be given responsibility to watch over God’s precious people, guiding and guarding them? I should add that this command to watch is not only to each individual elder but to the group collectively. It expects mutual accountability. Be watchful as shepherds, alert to the allure of power. So, here we have three things we must be watchful for. Three reasons to stay awake. First, the devil is on the prowl. We must stay awake to be on the defence. Second, God is at work. We must stay awake to be steadfast in prayer to follow Him. Third, shepherds can turn on the flock. We must stay awake to stay true to our calling. These three reasons for watchfulness are also found in the Lord’s words to Peter when He predicted his denial. Let us hear what Jesus said to him from Luke Chapter 22 verses 31 to 34: Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. Do you see the three ideas we saw in the epistles? Watchful because Satan wants to destroy. Watchful in prayer because God is at work. Watchful as shepherds who strengthens our brothers. Except here it is not about what Peter does at all. Here is Peter, confident in his strength, faithfulness and dependability. That has been me too often. I like to think I am capable. I want to be reliable. That is not a bad thing, I suppose, but in it is the seed of pride. And that pride sends me into a slumber where I miss Satan’s schemes, God’s promptings, and my own desire for significance. I am strong, so Satan cannot get at me. I am capable, so I do not need to pray. I am faithful, so I will not ever abuse power. Peter was confident, but Jesus knew just how weak this big fisherman was. He knew his denial was coming. He had heard Satan demanding to get his claws into Peter. He knew Peter did not have what it takes to stand against that attack. Only through Jesus’ intercession could Peter be saved. Jesus knew that was why He must go to Gethsemane and on to Golgotha. He knew too that Peter’s failure won’t be final. He knew He would stand days later on the Galilean shoreside beside a smouldering fire, the smell of grilled fish in His nostrils, asking Peter three times whether he loves Him (John 21). Three times the question for the man who denied Jesus three times. The Lord’s heart surgery, tenderly restoring Him and calling Him afresh to follow and to feed His sheep. Simon the fisherman became Peter the apostle because of the Lord Jesus who called Him, interceded for Him and commissioned Him. You too have become, have you not, what you now are through the grace of Christ alone who called you, who intercedes for you and whose commission to make disciples for Him is your priority? We do not know when the Master will return, but He is surely coming soon. So, wake up and be watchful. Watchful for Satan, alert to his schemes. Watchful in prayer, alert to God’s leading. Watchful as shepherds, alert to the allure of power.

Meet Pastor[1] Bruce. He’s a new leader of a local church, having taken up his post six months ago. He’s in his mid-thirties, and this is his first senior position. He’s arrived with lots of enthusiasm, energy and ideas. His interview went well, and he thought he made a good impression on the elder board. Now he’s not so sure. Six months in, and he’s hitting roadblocks. Two of the elders are causing problems, opposing several of his initiatives. He’s only been there a short time, and already he’s become discouraged. He thought the church employed him to bring in fresh ideas – he shared some of them during the hiring process – but now it seems he can’t make any headway with his plans. His first thought is, ‘How can I get around these elders?’ He doesn’t realise it, but he’s standing on dangerous ground. Not only that, the ground is sloped, and it is slippery. Stop reading. Look away from the computer/phone, and spend a minute or two thinking of the advice you would give Pastor Bruce. Consider your own response first. Then combine your own wisdom with what you read now . . . In his excellent new book, Powerful Leaders?, Marcus Honeysett describes what can happen when leaders misuse their power. At the far end of the spectrum are leaders who make one’s blood run cold. They are nakedly ambitious, and they set out to dominate and control. I have never met such people; fortunately, they are relatively rare in the church. Most of the leaders I know are good, kind, generous people. They desire to lead well. I hope that’s you. In Powerful Leaders?, Marcus Honeysett writes, It is easy to convince ourselves that we are pursuing success not for ourselves but for other people and the kingdom of God . . . Leaders can feel that the desire for more is driven by holy zeal and not by selfishness or neediness.[2] This, I believe, is the ‘pinch point’ for many leaders. Including Pastor Bruce. He wants to lead well. He has ideas. They are not selfish. Indeed, they are for the benefit of God’s kingdom and the church. Without realising it, his own ideas and the will of God are seamlessly combined. To oppose his ideas becomes opposition to God. That should raise a huge red flag. For we are not God, however much we may believe that we’ve been placed in a role to carry out his will. So what should Pastor Bruce do? Like all leaders, he has formal, legitimate power, as well as what might be termed ‘relational power.’ Formal power is out in the open, accountable, and subject to scrutiny. It’s clearly defined. Relational power is soft power, based on forming relationships. It is developed through the many connections a leader makes with people – especially influencers – in the congregation. The youth leader, the music leader, the admin staff, the elders, the missions committee, these are all people with whom the leader works closely. There is nothing wrong with relational power, but it contains the potential for misuse. Especially when a leader’s plans become frustrated. Pastor Bruce has a variety of options in tackling his problems. Many leaders will opt for manipulation, converting their soft power into effective action outside formal structures. He may simply go ahead with a project that’s been turned down, tweak it a bit, and see what happens. Others might play the victim, presenting faux vulnerability in order to achieve their goals. In Powerful Leaders? Marcus Honeysett describes a number of responses that lead down that slippery slope. I’d like to offer a response of my own: Lose, occasionally. Yes, lose. Since when did Christian leadership entail getting our own way all the time? Surely this is the way of the world. Worldly leaders demand loyalty and they exercise power to show that they are strong. Godly leaders follow the way of the cross. Marcus Honeysett writes, Power must be exercised wholly for the benefit of others and not for the benefit of the leader. Christian leadership, modelled on Jesus’ leadership, is self-giving, not self-serving.[3] Pastor Bruce has only been in his post for six months, but he’s already frustrated because he’s not able to implement his plans, plans that he believes have God’s approval. He needs to stop for a moment and remember his calling. To serve. Is he able to serve, when his ideas are rejected? Of course. Has his pride been wounded? Almost certainly. Is he concerned that he will look weak? Very likely. A meditation on Christ’s surrender in the Garden of Gethsemane is in order. Christ lost. Completely. He gave up his power, and in doing so, he gave up his life. He demonstrated use of power that is entirely at odds with the way power is exercised in the world. He lost, and in doing so, he won. Eventually. If we lose well, we may find that God honours us and enables us to ‘win’ later. At the next elders’ meeting, Pastor Bruce decides to spend as much time with his two opponents as possible. He listens a lot and speaks little. He is gracious and he makes a real effort to understand what motivates these two men, who have been in the church for several decades. Pastor Bruce loses the vote. The church building will not be rented out during the week to earn some extra income. Instead, it will be left empty. Nor will the church be hiring another youth worker. Apparently, there are insufficient funds. The link between these two decisions appears to go unnoticed. Inside, he shakes his head in disbelief, but he is not bitter. He accepts the will of the board. Then he decides to love his enemies. He has learned that loving one’s enemies may sometimes mean loving his brothers who oppose him. So he sets out to build a relationship with these two men. They are, after all, his co-labourers. He moves towards them, not away from them. The difference here is that he has no intention of building soft power in order to manipulate them. In truth, they may never accept some of his ideas, and that will always be a disappointment. But he’s become more focused on what he can do than on what he can’t. Because it’s okay to lose. Occasionally. I write ‘occasionally,’ because a leader cannot continue as a leader when every move he makes is blocked. If a church shows no interest in following a leader, then that leader may have to move on. But that’s the subject of another post. Losing is hard. It tests us, but it also reveals our character. And that’s what counts in the end – the person we’re becoming. Perhaps most importantly, however, we need to remember that we serve a God who doesn’t see success and failure the way that we do. In his kingdom, we receive by giving, we are blessed through service, we make sacrifices and discover that our loss is actually our gain, and we are given life through laying down our lives. But what if God’s will is also our will?! What happens if our plans are genuinely good, and they’re being thwarted by people whose ideas frustrate the will of God? Good question. Have a little faith, Pastor Bruce. God is more interested in building your character than achieving your goals. Yes, even when they are right and noble goals. It’s how you respond when you fail that matters more to your Lord than when you succeed. It’s your dependence on God’s grace, and your growth in loving difficult people that transforms you most into the image of your God. And your response? There are few things more godly than losing graciously. Indeed, it is one of the powerful things you can do. So you may have lost, but in losing well, you have won a prize that is eternal. And make no mistake, those two elders will notice how you lose, the grace you show, and your willingness to submit to decisions with which you disagree. That’s worth its weight in gold. And if one day, they fire you, is that the worst that could happen? No, it isn’t. Losing a job isn’t like losing a life. So lose, occasionally, and you will soon find you’re growing. That, surely, is a win. 1. Other church leadership titles are available. 2. Powerful Leaders. Marcus Honeysett. IVP. 2022. p.60 3. Powerful Leaders. Marcus Honeysett. IVP. 2022. p.22

I love words. For example, where did that word ‘etymology’ come from? Hmm, I wonder. And since we’re on the subject of interesting words, I came across a new one on social media the other day: Flagitiousness. It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? It means ‘marked by scandalous crime or vice.’ It’s hard to pronounce but it has some punch. An English word of Latin origin, it was used by a Scotsman, but I thought it needed testing. So I sounded it out loud – yes, I am known to do this fairly often, always in private – and I thought it sounded Scottish.* I love words and their comedic effect, which reminds me of an episode of Blackadder, in which Edmund Blackadder intones, ‘‘Oh I'm sorry, sir. I'm anaspeptic, phrasmotic, even compunctuous to have caused you such pericombobulation!” They are inventions to mock Dr Johnson’s dictionary, but as some commentators point out, they are also words whose meaning you can conjecture if you have the skill of an etymologist. (Not entomologist. That’s for people who study insects.) Even prosaic words such as ‘trousers,’ ‘flammable,’ or ‘wardrobe,’ can have comedic value, as guests have demonstrated during a round of Word Dissociation on BBC Radio Four’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue. To make a serious point now, let me turn to the Bible, where every word is the very breath of God. In the Scriptures, we are given pin-point accuracy in the extant Greek of the first century. I have written previously about different words for ‘time’ - chronos and kairos - and the depth of meaning we derive from knowing which one is used in which context. Well, it’s the same with our English word ‘life.’ There are three Greek words for ‘life’ in the New Testament: bios, psychē, and zoe. 1. Bios. This is the word from which we get our word ‘biology.’ It means the life of the body, or physical life. It is used in Luke 8.14, ‘And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life.’ 2. Psychē. This is the word from which we derive the idea of the psyche. It is the prefix used in both ‘psychology’ and ‘psychiatry.’ In Matthew 16.25, it is used of the Lord Jesus when he says: “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Here, the word ‘psyche’ is focused on the mind, will, and emotions. As human beings, we have both a ‘bios’ and a ‘pyschē’ because God made us this way in Genesis 2.8. We read, ‘The Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.’ The word used in this latter phrase is the Hebrew word ‘nepeš’ which means soul. There is a lot of discussion in theological circles - and psychiatric circles too - about what this really means. My own view is that we instinctively know that we are both physical and spiritual beings. That’s why we can investigate the ‘yellow’ of daffodils but we can also give voice to how we feel, like William Wordsworth: ‘When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.’ We are moved in our hearts as well as curious in our minds. We can explore scientifically and we can wonder emotionally! The third word in Greek for ‘life’ is zoe. And here we are on to something really special. 3. Zoe. The Apostle John uses this word a lot when he records his understanding of Jesus. In John 1.4, he writes, 'In him was life, and the life was the light of men.’ It describes the kind of life uniquely possessed by God. Eternal, immortal, life not derived from anywhere or anyone else. In 1 John 1.1-2, we have a further expansion. He writes, ‘That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us.’ The Word mentioned in John 1.4 is the Lord Jesus. So is the ‘word of life’ in 1 John 1.1 and ‘life’ in 1 John 1.2. They are both synonymous with the person of Christ. In addition, ‘the eternal life’ in 1 John 1.2 says literally, ‘The life the eternal.’ This zoe is the divine spiritual life, not the human soulish life or our physical life. Furthermore, we can only receive it through a living link with Jesus. ‘Eternal’ denotes not only duration of time but also quality, which is perfect and complete, without any defect. Now read John 10.10b replacing ‘life’ with zoe. I came that they may have life (zoe) and have it abundantly. Christ as the eternal life came so that we could have the eternal, divine life. He didn’t come so that we could have an improved human life. He came so we could have him. By our physical birth, we possess bios and psyche. But when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are born again with the divine life. So now that we’ve received Christ, the divine life, our Christian life must be fully involved with him. What Christ wants is for us to enjoy his life! I hope you can see the power contained within words. Their precise meaning reveals so much to us. Indeed, in the word ‘zoe’ we have a word that shows us a new kind of life; it’s a gift from God, that comes only from him, and is for him. Hold that thought today as you serve him. As you leave, take Galatians 2.20 into your day with fresh eyes: It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live (zaō) in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. *Editor’s note: It sounded Scottish, so it clearly has Jim’s stamp of approval!

The Passion is like a diamond. We stand in awe of it. It is a many splendoured thing, so saturated with truth and wonder that we will never truly understand it fully. It is a gift. We receive it. And we give thanks. Here are some thoughts to aid your reflections. SIN The Passion is a picture of abject suffering. A man beaten almost to death at a whipping post, then strung up on a beam to die. Slowly. It evokes our strongest emotions. It also reminds us of our sin. Stuart Townend’s hymn, How Deep the Father’s Love, is particularly insightful, yet one line stands out for me. It was my sin that held him there. This is my doing. I’m responsible for this. As an earlier line from the hymn states, ‘my guilt upon his shoulders.’ This wonderful, wise, compassionate man, who invited the poor and destitute into his fold, who spoke truth, was bold, brave, and remarkable . . . I have killed him. I’m no better than Pilate or Herod. Oh how can this be?! How can I avoid the huge burden that now weighs upon my soul? As I survey the scene, I’m still there, gazing up transfixed. Why? Because I’m a serial offender. My persistent guilt, demonstrated each day in weakness and sin, keeps me there, so when I view the cross, Christ is still hanging there in my place. He won’t come down. For some, this is why the crucifix shows Christ nailed upon a cross. Guilt and shame never go away, so there is a daily need to cling to a crucified Saviour, in an attempt to assuage the guilt. And that’s not right. That’s not right at all. Because we’re only part-way through the story. The empty cross is our glory. A risen Saviour is our boast. We’re not shackled in guilt, but as the hymn states, ‘his dying breath has brought me life.’ ‘How awful, then, when we turn to religion. What a travesty when we talk about grace, but live out of law. What a betrayal of our faith when we set aside our freedom to offer ‘virtuous rule-keeping’ in an attempt to pay off our debt. It’s addictive, because ‘being good’ certainly seems to ease the guilt. Stop! Such thinking must stop immediately. For if grace does not give us freedom, right now, it is not fit for purpose. The Passion was never intended to keep us there bowed before a bloody man, wringing our hands in regret and shame. It was always supposed to show us love, the great love of God who removes all guilt and shame. It was always supposed to set us free. It does set us free! Pause for a moment. Questions for reflection: When you think of your guilt, what do you do with it? What does God’s grace actually mean to you? To whom is God calling you to extend grace today? FULFILMENT John, in his gospel, constantly talks about fulfilment. He’s obsessed with it. For me, fulfilment is both an apologetic and a testament to the symmetry and beauty of the story-telling in the bible. It is remarkable how all the pieces fit together. More importantly, however, fulfilment speaks about love and commitment. Not ours. God’s. When Christ fulfils Scripture, he does so to demonstrate that he’s the Messiah. But he also does so to show that God fulfils his promises. When we promise to do something, we give our whole-hearted commitment to follow through in the face of whatever obstacles may stand in our way. That’s why marriage vows are so precious. When John keeps pointing out Christ’s fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy, he’s saying this: Israel’s God, YHWH, who formed a people and set them apart, he’s a God who can be trusted to follow through. He’s a God who saves. He’s a God of everlasting love and commitment to those he loves. He has never changed, and since the beginning of the world, he’s been working on a plan to save humanity. Its culmination has now arrived. See all the signs in the life of his Messiah? They show that God is a promise-keeper and now he’s fulfilling his promise to save those he loves. Questions for Reflection: How important are promises to you? God promised to rescue you through giving his Son. How do you respond today to that truth? Whom do you trust? In the face of difficulties and struggle, do you trust God? How do you show it? PURPOSE We can put up with almost anything if there’s a purpose to it. This is especially true of suffering. My favourite moment in the movie, The Passion of the Christ, is when Mary kneels down next to Jesus, who’s collapsed while carrying his cross. He looks up at his mum, and says, ‘See, mother, I make all things new.’ It is one of the most poignant moments in the movie, while also conveying a profound truth – to be meaningful, suffering absolutely must have a purpose within the will of God. It must. We are not masochists, bent on our own destruction. We are called to give our lives away, to make sacrifices for our God, because that’s why we live. That’s our purpose, which means our suffering has purpose. The Passion is the moment when God, in Christ, ‘makes all things new.’ He begins the work of restoring our world, and in order to confront evil, that work requires suffering in the service of a noble and holy goal. It cannot be avoided. This is the God we serve. He is committed, and loving, and brave. He doesn’t wring his hands and wish that everything will work out. He does what’s required to save us. And then he calls us to suffer and die with him. How is the Lord speaking you to this Easter? Take some time to reflect and pray. Questions for Reflection: How brave are you? What difficult thing is God calling you to do? As you meditate on the Passion of your Lord, what new thing do you see?

You’re sitting in a coffee shop alone. You’ve just finished your book, so you start chatting to a person at the table next to you. You tell them you’re a Christian, you lead a church, and the first thing you hear is all the stuff about why religions are bad. You listen patiently. They seem a little upset. You empathise. They blow themselves out, because you’re not defensive. So far, so good. You want to talk about Jesus, but when you think about it, that’s a huge leap. Can I interest you in a man who lived two thousand years ago? He rose from the dead. Yeah, right. And that’s relevant to me . . . how? End of conversation. Here’s the problem: If we start with the beliefs we want others to hold and make that our focus, oftentimes we come across as people who aren’t listening properly. We’re just insisting that the world must change its position, to admit that it’s wrong, and we’re right. That’s a tough sell. No wonder we meet either resistance or apathy. What’s changed in our culture? Isn’t anyone interested in the truth anymore?! Well, frankly, I think that nowadays the world is asking a different question. At least, that’s how it seems to me. I wonder if you have noticed it too. In 2004, when I completed my Masters in Apologetics, I met the question, ‘Is it true?’ fairly often. And I was equipping myself to answer it. No longer. The question, ‘Is it true?’ doesn’t seem to be nearly as important as it once was. I’m not saying it’s not an important question. It is. But it seems the world has stopped asking it. Nowadays, you can spend hours explaining why the gospels are genuine, reliable documents, and a person on an Alpha or Christianity Explored course will often just look at you and say, ‘And? So what?’ It’s frustrating, but the reality is, the truth question no longer interests them nearly as much as it once did. Sadly nowadays, we’re offering excellent answers to questions they aren’t asking. That’s got to pull us up short. So who needs to change here? If we dig in our heels and say, ‘Well, they should change their question,’ we’ll end up whistling in the dark. Instead, we must, must focus on the question they are asking. Or we will never reach them with the gospel. What is that question? It’s some version of these two: What are you offering me? What do you have that I would want? Notice the individualism, the sense that even the big questions must submit to me, since I see myself as the centre of my world. Yet any discomfort over that must be set aside if we’re to listen to what’s really going on when people express these questions. They’re saying this: I have needs, I have desires, things I want. I also have struggles and I want to know that whatever religion-or-faith-or-whatever-it-is-you-want-me-to-believe, that it’s going to satisfy me. Help me understand why I should even listen to you. Everyone is selling something. You’ve got a religion you want to sell me? Then convince me why I should buy. So, there you are in the coffee shop. Your interlocutor has now vented about religion, and because you’ve listened well, the conversation turns to your life. You could employ euphemisms like ‘I lead group discussions,’ or go for some virtue signalling, ‘My church runs a food bank,’ but you want to share Jesus, and those two thousand years feel like an enormous unbridgeable gap. So instead, you remember how the Master did it. He always started by meeting people where they struggled, with the issues they faced, and he intuitively (and with staggering insight) was able to express love and compassion. Think of the woman at the well, Zacchaeus, the disabled man at the Pool of Bethesda, among many others. He even asked Bartimaeus, ‘what do you want me to do for you?’ The man was blind! And yet Jesus still asked what he wanted! Almost always, he started his interactions with questions. Because it’s by asking questions that we discover the desires of others. What they want, what they’re longing for. That’s where we should start. ‘If there were a God, what would you want from him?’ That might be your question. I know it may seem that we’re opening the door to selfish requests, but it’s not long before you will hear people express the longings of their hearts. Once they do, you will soon hear the kinds of desires that are shared by all human beings. They fit into (roughly) four categories: Love Happiness Significance Peace-and-Justice This isn’t an exhaustive list, of course, but it’s a start. Talk to anyone for long enough, and their struggles will start to rise to the top. A broken relationship. Job challenges. Family discord. Every single one will be based on unmet or frustrated desires. The world is not asking ‘does God exist?’ but ‘can he help me?’ Jesus has already asked the question, ‘what do you want?’ They are now answering, and they want to know that the God of the universe can satisfy their desires. Self-centred? Driven by sinful urges? Of course. We human beings, by our very nature, attempt to satisfy our desires in sinful and damaging ways. But as Jesus so often did, we, his followers, must listen well to be given any chance to respond. Let me say, as an aside, that I’m not rejecting the gospel message about forgiveness of sins. At some point during this conversation, the person’s position before God will have to be addressed. But not at the beginning. At the beginning, we should start with a person’s burdens, their lost dreams, their shattered hopes. There’s a reason why there are so few genuine atheists. Most people are open to the idea that a ‘higher power’ exists. But they want to know if that entity can help them satisfy their desires. The reality, of course, is that God has determined not to satisfy their most keenly felt desire, which is that he would end their suffering. That is in the future. Yet once that phase of the conversation has passed, there is tremendously good news that we can share. Love – what greater love can one imagine than the kind that leads a person to make the ultimate sacrifice to rescue those he loves? Happiness – what greater joy is there than knowing the one who made you, and who loves you with an everlasting love? Significance – how wonderful that whoever you are, you are essential to God’s story, with each of us given a role to play. Peace-and-Justice – one day, all evil will be judged. We long for justice, because justice is found in our creator, who will make all things right. Spend long enough, and a person’s desires will show you who they are. Spend long enough listening, and you may be given the opportunity to share the answer to the deep desires you’ve just heard expressed. But you must listen to a person’s desires first. PRAYER Even in this very secular culture that surrounds us, many people may also permit you to pray. It may sound crazy, but in the secular West, people like the idea of prayer. So, as the Spirit leads, offer to pray, and when you pray, start with their needs. As you leave the coffee shop today, you thank your new friend for listening (though you’ve probably done the lion’s share). You tell them, if they’re open to it, that you’ll continue to pray for their needs. Perhaps you’ll even pay for their cappuccino. This world is suffering, and it needs to hear about a God who cares, who suffers with and for us – one who is capable of satisfying our desires, even when they are perceived through sinful eyes. Offer any other God nowadays, and they won’t give him the time of day. Just as well our gospel is so powerful, so true, so glorious. For our God is not only the Truth, but also the Way and the Life. He satisfies every yearning of the human heart.

How do you see yourself? As a leader, I mean. We’re not all the same. We all have different gifts, our own way of expressing leadership. Perhaps some of us associate the word ‘leader’ with ‘power’ and therefore avoid thinking about a topic that’s seen as distasteful. Hold your horses, because however you think of leadership, at some point you must do business with the idea. In your own life. It cannot be avoided. It must be dealt with head on. Avoidance—which often involves pretence and denial—is the worst thing you can do. If you’re a leader whom God has called, he desires that you lead in a way that glorifies him. And if that’s true, you must give your own leadership some thought and attention. This is not self-centredness. It’s the kind of inward reflection necessary to grow, to become the leader God has called you to be. That’s why you’re reading this post. Because you’re visiting a ministry devoted to helping you become a better, more godly, leader. NOT A PERSON, A SERIES OF FUNCTIONS Leadership expert, Paul Ford, has trained hundreds of leaders during his life. He writes, Leadership is not a person, though we need a leader so that we all learn how to follow. Rather, leadership is a series of functions fulfilled by a group of people. [1] Just toss that thought around in your head for a moment. Leadership is a series of functions fulfilled by a group of people. Marcus Honeysett writes, Leadership in the New Testament is resolutely plural and collegial. The picture is of shepherds acting together, not of lone rangers. [2] First, we need to deal with the Jesus problem. Sounds odd, right? How can Jesus be a problem? Well, since all believers model their lives on Jesus, and none more so than leaders, then his competence and perfection can be misunderstood and mis-applied. It’s easy to see why leaders place such a burden on themselves. Jesus could do it all, why not me? Aren’t I supposed to be like him? Shouldn’t I try? Frankly, no. You were not designed to lead as Jesus led. Why? First, because he was inaugurating a kingdom, starting a movement, and training its future leaders. You, on the other hand, are leading a church. They are not the same. Second, because while you are called to be like him morally, you are not called to live the same life as him. His life and calling were unique to him, not a model for leading a church. But third, the impression that Jesus is ‘doing it all’ is simply wrong. If anything, he’s the ultimate equipping releaser, embodying a facet of leadership that will be essential to those he’s training. Hence the sending out of the 72. WHAT IS CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP? So what comprises Christian leadership? This where the wisdom of Paul Ford comes in. He lists five functions of leadership as follows: Equipping Releaser Values Keeper Team Builder Active Listener Vision Sharers The five functions he mentions are all vital to the healthy leadership of a church community. They will either be done well, or done badly. But no one person can do them all. At least, not well. This is why it’s essential to understand these functions, and ensure they are done well in your community. By doing the first well: equipping releaser. Ephesians 4 is quite clear. So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up. Eph 4.11-12 It can’t escape your notice that St. Paul lists several functions for church leadership. Not one. Many. Which is why the first function, equipping releaser, is so important. If a church leader cannot delegate, then leadership becomes very difficult. The load can become too much to bear. It has often struck me how absurd it is that one leader is expected to fulfil all these functions. The kind of person who is good at organising is rarely the one who is good at casting vision, or preaching, or pastoring. These so clearly draw from different personality types, it makes perfect sense that these functions should be fulfilled by different people. A large, vision-casting platform speaker often lacks pastoral skills. The sensitive pastor often struggles to give a clear vision. They’re different jobs. Different functions. No wonder they’re suited to different people. That’s why it’s essential for a leader to delegate. To equip and release people within the community to fulfil these functions. To be honest, sometimes it’s enough simply to release. Especially if you don’t have the right gifts to do the equipping. Assign someone else to do the training. Delegate. I acknowledge that many church structures are not set up for this. They’re modelled on the single person senior pastor/vicar/priest role [3]. In many churches, the faithful look to the person at the top for everything. We need enormous change in most church cultures. But that doesn’t change the fundamental truth that leadership is a set of functions, not a person. If you remember nothing else from this short read, take that into your day. I would love for you to find relief from the burdens you’re carrying. Perhaps this can be a first step. Delegation isn’t easy, I know that. Especially in a community with long-held, rigid expectations of what the leader ‘is supposed to do.’ But with wisdom, and the Lord’s help, these functions can be shared out. They really can. But it takes courage. And the support of a team, who can help in re-thinking how these functions are expressed in your community. I pray today that as you read, the Lord will speak to you, that he will show you his desires for leadership in your church. For his glory. https://www.drpaulford.com/grip-review.htm Marcus Honeysett, Powerful Leaders? IVP. 2022. pastor/vicar/priest – these refer to the various leadership titles in our denominations

I like routine. Above all, on a cold winter’s morning. First, I make coffee for myself and tea for my dear wife. Then I love to stoke the fire. I do that every morning during the winter. We do have central heating, but that’s not where the joy lies. Instead, it’s found in our wonderful log burner that chugs out copious heat all day. It’s especially satisfying during this squeeze on energy prices, because I feed the fire with an endless supply of free wood that comes from the farm where I live. Double joy! Stoking a fire to get it going and the knowledge that we’re controlling our costs. As I placed another log inside the burner the other day, I was struck by the thought that oxygen is to fire what Jesus is to life. Let me explain. In the morning, I notice that embers usually remain in the grate from the night before, gently glowing. I pull them forward, place logs on top, open the vents to allow oxygen in, and hey presto, within minutes the embers turn to flames. If the fire has gone out completely, I must light it afresh, but the essential ingredients are the same: fuel, heat, and oxygen. What a wonderful picture of the life that Jesus brings. Having served as a pastor for most of my life, I’ve been privileged to witness the miracle of new life on many occasions. To sit with someone as they confess their sins and receive new life in Jesus, well, that’s a joy far beyond a morning’s ritual with a log burner. For without Jesus, there is no life. Just as without oxygen, there is no fire. ANOTHER FIRE A while back, my son-in-law and I cleared an area of scrub ground for some building work. We built a fire, piling the branches high, and adding more wood each day with the help of the farm loader. That fire burned for many days, and in fact, it’s still there today. Sometimes you can see a little smoke rising from deep down at the bottom. But it’s not burning very well. The branches sitting on top aren’t being burned at all. The problem? The ash pile down below is blocking the oxygen from getting in. Without oxygen, the fire is smouldering. It’s not really burning. As I looked at it, I saw another picture. How often do we allow ash to pile up in our lives, blocking the oxygen of life? Our busyness, the demands of family life, the pressure to provide, some of these ashes are very understandable. Other ashes are less so—the race for material gain, the pressure to succeed and to be seen succeeding, the fear of failure. When our ‘stuff’ blocks out the oxygen we need—Jesus—we are unlikely to bear fruit. The ‘aroma of Christ’ (2 Cor 2.15) that we desire to be . . . it’s absent. We don’t smell good, because we are cut off from the oxygen that gives us life. How often in ministry is it necessary to stop and draw breath? Breath—that should give us a clue. The breathing in of oxygen that gives us life. Lord Jesus, how we need to come before you in honest repentance and humility. How we need to confess our need for you in the midst of worldly temptations, that suffocate us. Fill us, Lord, with your life, with the breath of your Holy Spirit. BURNING BRIGHT, NOT BURNING OUT I remember a song my mother used to sing to my siblings and me. One of the lines went something like this: “I want to burn out for thee.” Those words used to grate on me. I saw an image of a worn-out, burned-out shell of a person, who had run out of usefulness because they didn’t pace themselves properly. That is not healthy, and that is not right. We are not called to burn out. We are called to burn bright. The last few days of my mother’s life gave me a picture of what that meant. As her days drew to a close, she shone ever brighter, full of Jesus as he called her home. What a joy it was to see, and a comfort to us in our sorrow at her passing. St. Paul writes to the Philippians, “Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life (Phil 15b-16a). My mother shone like a star, and we will never forget her. We read in Matthew’s gospel, You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Matt 5.14-15 The light of the world? That Christ would describe us in this way is an honor, a privilege, and a calling. For this world is dark. We don’t need to look very far to see just how dark. Certainly, the war in Ukraine reminds us of the darkness, but it is found just as easily in our churches, and indeed at times in our own hearts. Yet, we are the light of the world because Jesus lives within us by his Holy Spirit. The oxygen of life is within us. Every day. So clear away those ashes, and make space for Jesus to fill your body, your soul, your whole being. He is truly the oxygen of life.

No deep thoughts this week. Just a prayer. Won’t you pray it with me? Almighty Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, Father of our Lord Jesus who once invited all who are weary and burdened to come and receive rest for our souls, we come to you. We pour out our hearts to you. The world feels heavy right now: our own burdens are heavy, the weight of the burdens of the people we love and serve are heavy, and as we look at the news our heart aches with the suffering and injustice we see. It is a weight of grief our hearts, at times, feel too weak to bear, but we look to you. We lay these burdens at the feet of the only one who can bear them. Lord lift our eyes to you: Almighty God. Our maker. Our sustainer. Our help. Our shield. Our joy. Our justice. Our love. Our comfort. Our only hope. We ask for your power in us, by your Spirit, to help us persevere through these days. Strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees that we may continue to run this race well and bring you glory. Where we find ourselves feeling empty, we ask you to fill us. Source of all love, fill our hearts with your love so that we may overflow with love for those you place in our lives and on our hearts. Fill us that we may extend love that is not self-interested to the lost and the needy we see around us – at home and abroad. Help us to act in ways that lift others up, encourage them on, and point them to you. For those of us who are thirsty for peace from the anxiety of this world, we ask you to help us breathe deeply the peace that surpasses understanding, cherishing the ultimate, unshakable peace we have with you through the atoning work of Christ on the Cross. The Cross which declares your justice, mercy, and sovereign plan to our shaky hearts. For those who are alone or feeling lonely today, Lord please draw near. For those of us who feel hopeless and dismayed, captivate us again with a vision of the throne room of heaven, from whence your loud voice will one day declare that all things are being made new. Remind us daily – and even hourly as we need it – that we wait for that day to come when there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. A day when justice and mercy will reign, and we will finally be with you. Come Lord Jesus. We long for that day. Until then may we proclaim your greatness and walk in faithfulness by the power of your Spirit. Through the precious name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen

The war in Ukraine continues to dominate the newspaper headlines. Rightly so. It is the most important news story of our time. News story. It’s a story. And stories matter. A lot. In fact, in times of war, the narrative matters almost as much as what is actually taking place on the ground. Words seem to have as much power as bombs and bullets. Sometimes more. Indeed, before the conflict started, the argument over narrative was already being waged. In the eyes of some commentators, President Putin’s views on the history of Ukraine and Russia’s relationship to the West were not being taken seriously. Not only that, it was clear that while dialogue was taking place, the two sides simply weren’t hearing each other. The divergent stories created a gulf between Russia and the West. Now that the conflict has begun, the issue is propaganda – the war over who tells the story, and who hears it. Peter Horrocks, the former director of the BBC World Service, has warned that the BBC is losing the “information war” with the Kremlin [1]. Apparently, Russia and China are outspending the West and winning the propaganda war in Europe. I wonder. Maybe. And then there are those reports about fake news. A whole series of videos were released recently showing drone footage and even video game footage allegedly drawn from the actual conflict. Not true. Sadly, the disinformation, once out, is hard to counter. Its effects range far and wide. As the famous saying goes, “The first casualty of war is the truth.” But perhaps the most heart-breaking stories are those that tell of families divided by conflicting narratives. Recently, I read about a woman from Kharkiv, a city that’s been shelled repeatedly in recent days. She called her mother, who lives in Moscow, with news of the attacks, but was met with disbelief. “The Russian army would never fire on civilians. It’s Ukrainians killing their own people,” said her mother. What disturbed the woman most was the way her mother seemed to repeat verbatim a news item from the Russian state media. “They are just brainwashing people. And people trust them,”[2] the woman lamented. I’ve read that in Russia today, any news channel that uses the words ‘war,’ ‘invasion,’ or ‘attack’ faces the prospect of being taken off air for ‘spreading false information.’ I have only visited Russia once—a day spent mostly in Moscow airport—but I have a close friend who has been affected very badly by these competing narratives. She lived in Russia for many years, speaks Russian, and has many close friends there. She writes, “One of the hardest things for me is when friends for whom I have always had the deepest respect, are adamant that Putin’s intentions are pure. If feels like our family is losing a lifetime of friendships because we simply can’t communicate anymore.” My heart breaks for her. If there were ever a time to understand the power of story, it is now. During a war. So why are stories so important? Many reasons. Here are a few. National identity The stories we tell about ourselves create our national identity. I remember one of my professors once said, ‘Without the Exodus, there is no Israel.’ What an interesting observation. The story of God’s rescue is so important to the Jews that without it, they would cease to be a people. Their very identity depends on an historical event. Right now, in Ukraine, they are fighting for their national identity, for their right to survive as a nation. The Ukrainians believe they have a right to live as an independent people, a people with a long and proud history. In July 2021, President Putin wrote a long article in which he claimed that Russians and Ukrainians were ‘one people.’[3] Two stories—completely different, and a war is being fought over which one is correct. (Along with other strategic reasons, of course.) Stories help us make sense of the world The big bang, Copernicus’ discovery that the earth orbits the sun, the theory of evolution, they are about much more than science. Each advance has profoundly impacted how we tell the story of the world, and therefore give meaning to our lives. Just as important is our own creative output, the stories we make up. They help us make sense of the world. All cultures have valued story-telling. Around the campfire, on cave walls, on scrolls, around kitchen tables, in books, on TV and tablets—we have been telling stories since the dawn of time, because they are the means by which we give meaning to the world in which we live. They create order out of chaos. Philip Pullman, the author of His Dark Materials, once wrote, All stories teach, whether the storyteller intends them to or not. They teach the world we create. They teach the morality we live by. They teach it much more effectively than moral precepts and instructions. A story that gives hope If, according to Pullman, all stories teach morality in some form or other, leaders should be familiar with the stories of our culture. They are ‘teaching morality,’ and we are surrounded by them. Leaders should be well informed. More importantly, however—especially during a war—we need to hold onto the one true, big story that gives hope—the Bible. We tell stories not only to make sense of the world, but to give expression to our longings. That’s why the Bible is the foundational story upon which all other stories are based. Every story in which good triumphs over evil, in which justice wins, or a character overcomes adversity, or finds love—every single one is meaningful because it’s informed by the Bible, with God at the centre. Without God, none of these themes make much sense. Yet because God does exist and his story is true, they do. And because of this, there is hope. Because God is alive and he loves us, there is hope. There is hope for the people of Ukraine, and hope for the world emerging from a pandemic. Stories are the means by which we put Humpty Dumpty back together again. They help us deal with the suffering of our world, because they express our most profound desires. For love, for peace, for justice, for significance, for the triumph of good over evil. In Russia, in Ukraine, in our own nation. As leaders, we tell some part of God’s story every Sunday. We’re not explaining laws, or codes of conduct, or giving advice on how to find health and happiness, still less success. We’re helping our people to understand their role in God’s story, and then encouraging them to trust him for the strength, wisdom, and faith needed to play their part well. Take heart from the truth that all our individual stories are connected in this bigger story of God’s work in this world. No one in church this Sunday is outside the story of God’s great love for his people, for his world. Every last person you see this Sunday is playing a part in a story filled with hope. And the end is so magnificent and certain that whatever may happen today can be faced, because God has already written the ending. And wow, it’s a fantastic ending. In fact, it’s the start of a brand new story! 1. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/dec/21/bbc-world-service-information-war-russia-today 2. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60600487 3. https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/ukraine-history-fact-checking-putin-513812/

You turn on the TV. There sits a celebrity on a bright red couch, telling the audience about her latest movie. The interviewer decides to dig a little deeper, so he asks, “If you had the chance, what would you say to your younger self?” Caught a little off guard, the celebrity then proceeds to offer as much wisdom as rises within her mind. Sometimes, we’re pleasantly surprised by the celebrity’s insight; other times not so much. This question is asked a lot, I think, because we so often regret the missed opportunities of youth. We wish we had made different choices. As George Bernard Shaw once wrote, ‘Youth is wasted on the young.’ (Paraphrase. 1935.) As I was listening to the latest celebrity, aged almost fifty but looking like she was barely thirty-five, I wondered if a better question might be offered: “What might my younger self say to me now that I’m over seventy?” Would my younger self be able to offer any words of wisdom to help me during my final stages of life? I must say, the question brought me up short. NOW, RIGHT NOW In 2002, I left UCCF. As I packed up my things, I sat down with a co-worker (who was also moving on) and we reflected on our time serving university students. We discussed Psalm 137, in which the psalmist looks back nostalgically from exile in Babylon to the glory days in Zion. We prayed that our time at UCCF, as wonderful as it had been, would not be the high point of our Christian lives. We didn’t want to look back and consider our days with UCCF as ‘the best time.’ If we did, we would be robbing ourselves of something immensely valuable. The present. The beauty and wonder of NOW. So the first thing my younger self would say is, ‘Make sure you keep growing and enjoying what the Lord is doing NOW.’ The second thing my younger self would say is, ‘Don’t accept the myths of old age.’ Here are some. You don’t make good friends when you’re older It’s a load of rubbish, isn’t it? This myth needs banishing immediately. We can always make good friends – at any age – and of course we have the opportunity to build on older ones. You’ve earned a rest It may well be true that a person’s energy levels dip a little towards the latter stages of life, but that doesn’t mean we stop contributing. Not at all. We don’t stop following Jesus. And since he always gives us ways to bless people, we are always available to serve him through serving others. The idea that older people have no useful function has no place in the Kingdom of God. Indeed, as the popularity of Richard Osman’s widely read novel, The Thursday Murder Club, demonstrates, the over-seventies seem to have gained a new lease of life within our culture. This band of elderly ‘detectives’ managed to capture the nation’s (UK) heart. Your brain slows up Older people are often more forgetful, that’s true. And technology is moving so quickly nowadays, it’s hard for the older generation to keep pace. However – and it’s a big however – some evidence shows that while the brains of older people don’t retain information quite as well as the young, the information they do retain is used to good effect. In other words, the elderly may be forgetful, but when they remember information, they use it well. Well processed information sounds a lot like wisdom to me. WISDOM OF THE OLD Thirdly, I remember a survey conducted in some Christian care homes. It asked residents what they wished they had done more of. Here are their top three answers: · Read more · Prayed more · Risked more READ - My younger self would say, ‘Take your book with you and take advantage of those down times to read. On the bus, before a meeting, waiting as your spouse browses in M&S!’ PRAY – There’s no question that the pandemic has caused a great deal of harm. However, it has also given some of us the chance to slow down and pray more. To my younger self, I would say, ‘Pray more – with or without lockdown.’ RISK – A while back, the D-Day veteran, Harry Billinge, gave an interview on breakfast TV. He spoke openly about his faith in Jesus, and though he was surrounded by a thoroughly secular environment, the producers didn’t cut him off. He stepped out in faith, and an audience of millions heard his testimony. It was such an inspiration, and for me, it was a reminder that as we get older, we are sometimes given opportunities to ‘break some cultural rules.’ My younger self would say, ‘Go for it!’ Whatever age we are, life is a gift, an opportunity to bless others. The passing of the years may change us, but whether young of old, each day we’re given is full of promise, full of possibilities. So let’s live for God’s glory.

Feeling smug is never a good thing. Pride always ends badly. My eyes roll whenever I hear that kind of thing, but I still fall for it every time. Even as I type, I’m emerging from my latest lapse. According to my NHS Covid-19 app, I only need to self-isolate until 23:59 tonight. The neighbours had better watch out at midnight! My point is that I was feeling pretty pleased with myself for having steered clear of the dreaded lurgy. I’m naturally a conformist who loves rules and sticks to them religiously. I’d worn my mask and kept my distance. I’d never quite understood why the social distancing rule was only two metres when five would so obviously have been better! People were tumbling like nine-pins all around me, but I’d remained fit and well – until ten days ago, that is. Symptom-free and super confident, I took yet another lateral flow test. It was just a routine matter, another example of keeping the rules. But that morning, something changed. Not only then but every morning since, those two red bars have mocked me from that horrid little device. I used to love the letter T; it stood for tasty . . . tender . . . tranquil . . . trifle . . . and tenofthose! I can assure you I’ve now changed my attitude towards that terrible character! But before I go off the deep end completely, let me stop and reflect. What have I learned from the last ten days when food has been lovingly slid under the door of my cell, and Pippa (my wife) and I have shared our daily devotions on WhatsApp? Quite a lot, actually. For a start, I’ve learned a bit more about patience. It neither reflects well on the Lord Jesus, nor makes Pippa’s life any easier if I throw a wobbly every time I test positive. I’ve been wonderfully reassured that my standing before my Heavenly Father has not been diminished by the fact that I’m not allowed outside just now. Above all, I’ve been reminded I’m not the hero in this particular drama. I came to this realisation recently as I read Jesus’ Freedom Manifesto in Luke 4. Just to remind you, the Lord Jesus has come back to his home town, Nazareth. On the Sabbath day, he attends the synagogue – as usual. As he stands up to read the Scriptures, the scroll of the prophet Isaiah is handed to him. Unfurling it, he turns to the passage we’ve come to know as Isaiah 61, where it is written: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. The Jewish rabbis interpret this passage in distinctly Messianic terms – and the people know it. So we can only imagine their profound shock as the Lord Jesus boldly applies it all to himself. He is the Messiah who has come to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. As I read, what struck me with unusual force was the way I align myself with Jesus, the Spirit-anointed Saviour whose job it is to rescue people. Forgive the ridiculous delusions of grandeur, but I was powerfully reminded that this is not the case. My place is among those who are rescued – the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed. At first, this realisation came as a bit of a let-down. I mean, deep down, which of us doesn’t yearn for the starring role? On further reflection, however, I discovered that rather than being disappointing, this realisation was truly liberating. God’s unfolding drama of grace doesn’t depend so much on my performance as on the Lord Jesus’. Since then, I’ve discovered that Luke 4 isn’t the only place where my role needs reversing. I do it all the time as I read the Bible. I often follow the stories of Moses, David, and Paul, and instinctively insert myself into the role of the hero. Hmm . . . what’s wrong with this picture?! So, where does the Lord Jesus leave me in Luke 4? With two distinct roles, both of which I am qualified to perform really well – as a worshipper and as a witness. WORSHIPPER In relation to the Lord Jesus, I’m a worshipper. I owe today’s wealth and well-being . . . and tomorrow’s new-found freedom entirely to him, and to the Father who sent him. I fulfil a number of roles in this life – husband . . . father . . . grandad . . . cheer-leader to the elders of our church. And the way I exercise these roles will change over time. But here’s one role that will never change – not even in eternity. I am and will always be a worshipper. Through the gospel, I’m adopted into God’s family . . . I enjoy forgiveness of sins . . . I’m gloriously free from guilt and the curse of God’s Law . . . I have received the gift of the Spirit . . . I have a new heart and new desires . . . I look forward to a home in God’s new creation. And I owe it all to the One through whom I have redemption. As the old hymnwriter puts it, Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, Who like me his praise should sing! So, in relation to the Lord Jesus, I’m a worshipper. WITNESS In relation to the world around me, however – my family . . . my friends . . . my neighbours, I’m a witness. Who better to reach the blind than someone whose sight has been restored? Who better to reach a captive than someone who has discovered the joy of being set free? I suspect the two roles are intimately connected. Shouldn’t worship always lead to witness? When I experience something I really enjoy, isn’t the icing on the cake to tell someone about it? My enjoyment is never quite complete until I’ve been able to share it with someone else. That’s why the Psalms are full of exhortations to proclaim among the nations what the LORD has done. The best witnesses are worshippers. When I’m full of joy in God, it doesn’t take much to see why I’ll attract people to the Lord Jesus. When godly joy is replaced by the relentless burden of ministry, or the frustrations of outrageous fortune, the attraction soon disappears. So, as a recovering Covid junkie, let me encourage you. The church families we serve don’t need us to be their hero – the Lord Jesus fills that role perfectly. But they are well served when they see in us Spirit-inspired worshippers and Spirit-empowered witnesses.