My Japanese Easter moment

I had an Easter moment in Japan.

Despite the fact that daily life in Japan shows absolutely no sign of this being the Easter weekend – I encountered God in a Shinto shrine.

Amy tells me that modern Japanese people see themselves as a secular society. So I did some research, and found that their history is a combination of Shinto and  Buddhism. We have visited both Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. Some are placed magnificently on top of hills, while others are tucked away alongside bustling city roads.

I also discovered that the Emperor Meiji found Shinto to be a useful tool to unify Japan. He made Shinto the official religion, known as State Shinto, with shrines under government control. Later, during World War Two, Japanese nationalism required everyone to participate in State Shinto and accept the Emperor as divine. After the war, the shrines were taken out of government control, and State Shinto was abolished

It seems that since then, organized religious participation has declined, Japanese society has become secular, and religious study in general has become less important. Perhaps this is a reaction to the state using the religious sentiments of the people for political purposes. What we have observed, however, is that the people are still spiritual. The shrines all have fresh flowers, the temples have burning candles and incense, and there is a steady stream of people visiting their holy places to offer prayers.

Which brings me to my God-moment.

Yesterday – Easter Saturday - Amy took us to visit a local Shinto Shrine in Sasayama. It is called Ojiyama makekirai inari. This can be loosely translated as “hate to lose”, which indicates that this is a place to pray for victory. Many students come here to pray for success in examinations. We climbed the rows and rows of stairs up the hill towards the shrine at the top. They are intended to slow a person down, to allow us to pause, and breathe, and think. And they do.

Jenny and I were taking pictures, and enjoying the sense of leaving the noise of the town and entering a tree-lined sanctuary, when things changed for me. I found myself standing in front of a shrine just to the left, and below, the main shrine. And I lost my desire to take more photographs, or to talk, or to do anything other than stand in silence. I had this sense that God was enveloping me. I knew that I was loved, and I stood rooted to the spot in silent awe. After a while I found one of the candles placed in front of the shrine and lighted it in reverence for this moment of peace.



Ojiyama makekirai inari

 As I stepped back I saw that the shrine was crowned with a cross. I do not have a clue what symbolism was intended by those who built this shrine – but this was my Easter place. I prayed at the foot of this cross, and my spirit was renewed. Jenny and Amy joined me in lighting candles, and there was really no need for words. We worshipped God.

 

Sakura and a Blossoming Spring.

We have arrived in Japan just as the cherry blossoms are coming out. And they are stunning in their beauty. Their flowers literally take over their cherry-trees (called "sakura").The Japanese hold flower-viewing parties (Hanami), in which large numbers of people arrive at parks, shrines, and temples with family and friends to enjoy a spring break. 

These flowers are so eagerly anticipated, that the Japanese Meteorological Agency posts a nightly forecasts of the sakura zensen (cherry blossom front) as it moves from south to north with the approach of warmer weather.

In Japan, while the cherry blossoms can represent innocence, simplicity and spring, they have a long standing symbolic value: In the past, the samurai culture admired the flower since samurais (like the cherry blossom) were considered to have a relatively short life expectancy… and also because they believed the flower represented drops of blood.

For many, the transience of the blossoms - their extreme beauty and quick death - is embodied in the concept of mono no aware (もののあはれ^?). [1] Mono no aware - literally "the pathos of things" - is a Japanese term for the awareness of impermanence (無常, mujō^?), or transience of things, and a gentle sadness at their passing.

For us as visitors, we have loved the flowers, and have enjoyed the wonderment of the people as they emerge from their winter into spring.

 

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[1] The association of the cherry blossom with mono no aware dates back to 18th-century scholar Motoori Norinaga.^]

Ame-mura

Today, in Osaka-Shi we walked through ‘American town’. And I suppose it makes sense. In South Africa I have visited ‘China Town’, and ‘Indian Town’ and ‘Little Italy’ – so why not have an ‘American Town’ in the middle of a very large Japanese City. It is called Ame-mura by the Japanese and is located in Shinsaibashi in the Minami district of Osaka.

Let us be clear: This section of the city is not American. It is really an expression of the fascination of Japanese young people with all things American. This consists of shops selling American branded clothing and the products of American chain food outlets. There are Japanese girls who dress in jeans and impossibly high heels, who dye their hair blond or brown, and who wear hip-hop caps. The music of American musicians play in every shop, and leather jackets and high tops are the uniform of the young men.

In truth, it is lively and fun and young – and Japanese.

 

Beautiful Kyoto

We spent the day in Kyoto (phonetically pronounced 'Ki-your-door'). This is the city that gives its name to an international treaty.[1]  Well - today this city was beautiful. The cherry blossoms are budding, which adds beauty to an already lovely city.

This is a city of startling contrasts. It is a busy city of bicycles, scooters, pedestrians, cars and busses; it is a city of fashion shopping, the newest gadgets and digital offerings, alongside ancient shrines and temples; a city of beautiful women in high heels under miniskirts, alongside elaborately made up girls in the traditional kimono.

I Can hear you exclaim – “Kimono? Didn’t the Japanese shed their traditional dress in the mid 19^th century with the import of suits dresses and other western fashions?” Yes they did. The men all wear suits and ties to work, and the women dress exquisitely and in the latest fashions. But it would seem that on holidays, and for special events the kimono and other accoutrements of the geisha or maiko are still popular with Japanese girls. I guess the arrival of the cherry blossoms warranted a ‘kimono outing’.

So we were spoiled with a festival of colours, and are grateful for the day.

 

 

 

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[1] The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international treaty that sets binding obligations on industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Pilgrimage

It is actually covered in sheets of pure gold!

This is the Golden Pavilion Temple, also called Kinkaku-ji in Japanese. This magnificent Zen temple was built in 1397 and it is located in Kyoto. It was intended as a shariden, storing the remains of the Buddha’s ashes. The entire temple is surrounded by a beautiful garden that looks out on the Mirror Pond.

But what was originally designed to be a tranquil setting, with waterfalls, quiet gardens and expansive space for prayers and contemplation was shattered by the crowds of Japanese tourists who flocked to this site. Cameras clicked, people commented at the beauty of the setting, and the curio stalls did a roaring trade. People queued to ring the prayer bell, and wave the incense of the prayer sticks over themselves. My first reaction was one of sadness. Here was a secular curiosity at the ‘old ways’, which is now nothing more than a commercial venture.

It was my daughter Amy’s astute comment that changed my mind: “Look at the age of these tourists Dad” she said. The majority are young people. She noted that these young people come back again and again to sites such as these. They come for picnics in summer, and see this as a suitable place to take a girl/boyfriend on a date. This has become one of the places of pilgrimage for the youth of Japan. This is not a visit done in solemn silence: it is noisy, talkative and interactive. But they keep coming back.

So I sat outside of the monk's platform, where they used to pray overlooking the lake - and offered a prayer for God's blessing on all who seek a spiritual life.

 

 

International Eating.

Oh the irony of being South Africans in Japan, ordering kebabs in an Indian restaurant, off a menu written in Japanese. The waiter was a very polite Japanese man, who knew the English names of the food on the menu. The chef was Japanese, who came out of the kitchen to thank us for coming to eat. The Indian was the photograph on the wall, the music, the decor, and the excellent food. That was fun.
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Checking the Labels.

I have just returned from shopping at Seven Eleven. And I had to do my shopping by pictures and familiar international brands. This is because I am shopping in Sasayama, Japan.

I have come to visit my daughter Amy, who is an English teacher in a small Japanese town, made famous for its black bean harvest and wild boar hunting. Amy began last August, and has just renewed her contract for another year. When her Granny Edwina John heard this, she decided that she needed to visit her granddaughter. So at 88yrs old, she instructed Jenny and me to accompany her on a Japanese adventure.

The trip to Osaka (with a stop in Dubai) took us 24 hours. Amy met us at the airport, and got us back to her home, via a bus shuttle into the city, an hour’s train trip north-west into the country, and a car ride from the station to her home. Needless to say, we were exhausted, and slept for the next 12 hours. Which takes me to the shopping excursion.

There I was patrolling the shelves while Jenny, Amy and Granny did the real shopping. (You understand that men browse for interesting, and often ‘off the list’ things, while women buy the necessary stuff that keeps us alive).The problem was that I did not know what I was looking at. The shelves were full – but incomprehensible. The labels were in Japanese. Then, just as I was getting desperate, I saw a label I recognised:  Nestlé . It was with relief that I confidently approached the shelf in search of coffee.... only to find that while the brand was recognisable, the rest of the writing on the bottle was Japanese! So I have come back to Amy’s home clutching a bottle of インスタントコーヒー.

And I am happy.

 

Joining those who are stripped of their power.

Luk 4:1-13  Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread."  Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"   Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"  When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

 

This has been a week that has dis-empowered women: this was the week in which Reeva Steenkamp, was shot four times on the morning of Valentine's Day; a week in which a policeman in Koster (North West) shot and wounded his wife before killing himself; this was the week that we mourned the gang-rape and murder of Aneen Booysen,

Jesus came to our world to speak about power.

But this is not the power one has when dependent poor people flock to you to be fed from your largesse; it is not the aura of a powerful political ruler when all bow before you; and it is not that of a worker of powerful magic that attracts gullible crowds. This is not the power that comes from getting on top of other people; and this is never the power that comes from “making a name for myself”. Instead this is the power that prompts us to sit alongside the weak, and the hungry, and suffering – and give them courage for life. This is the power to have compassion for the little people, and the forgotten people, and those who are abused and raped.

This was the week that we began Lent: a time when we mark ourselves with ashes to show our solidarity with those who sit in ashes. It is a week when we voluntarily take on a symbol of suffering through fasting. This was also the week where women asked us to show solidarity with those who are raped and abused through a campaign called ‘Thursdays in Black – Towards a world without rape and violence’.

It is time for us all to invoke the power of God to join the victims in their grief;  to assist victims to get back on their feet; and to work for a society that takes power away from bullies, and violent men, and all who seek to crush the life out of the weak. I will join the Thursdays in Black campaign as my commitment for Lent. And I will commitment my time, effort and power to protecting the weak and the powerless.

So does God care?

Yesterday I described how Dianne Worringham, Mark Duncan and myself were running down Alexander Road extension, when we came across an accident: a drunk driver had driven into a runner out training in the early morning and killed him.

Does God care about this?

see my reflection on this at www.rockinthought.blogspot.com

Lost for Words

This morning at 8am a drunk driver drove into runners out training and killed one of them. We were running the same road, probably fifteen minutes behind them.  Running with Mark and Diane, we came across the scene – a car that had driven up an embankment and rolled; a bloodied driver sitting on the pavement; and a distraught runner repeating over and over again that “he has been cut in half”.

I experienced a range of emotions – and have not yet worked them all out.

·         I was grateful that we had not been 15 minutes earlier in our run. It could have been us!

·         I was/am still angry that someone can be under the influence of alcohol at 8am in the morning....

·          and even angrier that this person should choose to drive a car. Driving after drinking seems to be part of our culture.  Men do not even blink when they pick up their car keys after a few drinks. Even more disturbing is the fact that the people around such a person do not protest or stop him.

Once again I state my case: I am opposed to mixing alcohol and motor vehicles. Anyone driving on the road should not drink at all. It is as simple as that. I drive sober. Period.

I pray for the family who have lost someone they have loved – because another person chose to impair his driving skills with alcohol.

Ignorance is Bliss

So I was stalked this week!

I was walking down Boom Street in Pietermaritzburg heading for Pieter Kerchoff Street, quietly minding my own business. Unbeknown to me I was being followed by two men who were discussing the contents of the sling bag I carry over my shoulder.  They speculated aloud whether I was carrying a camera, or if there were other valuable things inside it.  I, unaware of this conversation, reached the travel agent I was seeking and entered the building. We all went on our way having missed the moment that we might have met each other in an unfortunate encounter.

I only know this because our Seminary caretaker was walking down the same road behind the two men, listening to their conversation. He was wondering how he could intervene to prevent anything happening. He too went on his way, relieved that the moment had passed.

Musicals

I grew up loving musicals. My first memory is of Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke singing in the musical film Mary Poppins. This was followed by Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, and Julie Christie and Christopher Plummer in The Sound of Music, a host of singing stars in Oliver, and the catchy songs from the Jungle Book. My coming of age memories were deeply shaped by the Rocky Horror Picture Show, John Travolta and Olivia-Newton John in Grease, and Neil Diamond in the Jazz Singer. With the arrival of my children I have happily sung my way through the songs from the Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and a host of other Disney movies.

My love of musical movies was supplanted by a love of musical stage productions. Because of South Africa’s apartheid-isolation from international arts, we had to be content with hearing recordings of the musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice rather than seeing them.  I learned the words for Joseph, for Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and Phantom of the Opera. In 1984 Jenny and I visited London, and were blown away by the live stage performance of Evita, followed a few nights later by Cats. We were hooked on live musicals – and as South Africa opened up to musicals we have enjoyed everything from Chicago to David Kramer’s District Six. But my all time favourite is Les Misérables.

Les Misérables , first published as a Victor Hugo historical novel in 1862, is a reflection on the tension in live between Grace and Law. My friend Alan Brews bought Jenny and me tickets to see it in Cape Town, and we were deeply moved by its message of hope in the love of God. I was privileged to see it again in New York with my friends Charmaine Morgan and Sidwell Mokgothu. Again I was moved to tears. Now it has come out as a musical film, and I intend seeing it. Will keep you posted.       

 

PS: I am intrigued to discover that the lyricist for the English-language musical adaptation is South African born Herbert Kretzmer. Born in Kroonstad in 1925 of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants William and Tilly Kretzmer, he left South Africa to become a journalist and theatre critic in London. He turned the original French words into the English version that – as of the end of 2012 - has become the longest running musical in the West End.

Breakfast Ride

There were 16 bikes and an open road. Need I say any more?

The club is called 100s - as in "how is it going?" "I am hundreds". This is local slang for "everything is just great". And that was the mood this morning. It poured with rain last night, with storm warnings for today. But we set out in relatively clear weather, and had a dry day. The club insists on three rules: wear a reflective jacket, ride in formation, and no drinking and driving. This suits me because it makes for safer riding, and less stress when there are a whole lot of bikes around me on the road.

We headed for Scottburgh for breakfast. And took the back road/off highway road. Not only was it a great ride, but I got to meet some great people. I am just hundreds today.

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Thundered into Submission

Mark Duncan & Pete Grassow

Last night I was washed away.

A text message from my friend Mark initiated the episode: “Pick you up at 5:15 to run the time trial”. This is a weekly meeting of our running club where we either run a fast 4km or 8km over a measured (and timed) route. It is intended to keep us sharp, and to improve our speed. Usually it is my reminder of how the passing of the years has slowed my legs, so I did not go often in 2012. But this is a new year, and time for new resolutions. Mark and I have committed ourselves to being at the weekly time trial for 2013.

Yesterday saw a gradual building of an enormous thunderstorm, and by mid-afternoon lightning and thunder swirled over Pietermaritzburg.  When the text popped into my in-box I had hoped it would say something like – “Let us skip this afternoon” but instead he added “Be prepared to get wet”. Mark is a hard core runner! Because I was not about to be outdone by him, I waited dutifully at my gate at 5:15 ... in the rain. We drove to the run with mark cheerfully reassuring me that the rain was stopping.

Six of us arrived to run. A few more arrived, declaring that they were not running – one of whom is the top female runner in the club. She said that the thunder was returning, and Mark scoffed at her comment: “It has stopped raining” was his confident assertion. We set off at a blistering pace (in my opinion), and within minutes it began raining. At the 1km mark the rain got harder, and one of the (many) runners ahead of me turned back home. I gritted my teeth and kept going:  Mark was ahead of me, and I was not going to be out done by him. By 2km thunder was cracking overhead, and rain was running down the road in rivers. The 3km point saw me drenched to the bone, and splashing through the water that ran off the pavement. A car stopped to offer me a lift – and behold it was Mark! He had taken a short cut back to start to get his car and told me to get in.

Smugly I waved him on, telling him that I was a better man than he, and would not be frightened by a little bit of water. As he drove off I immediately regretted my hasty words as lightning cracked nearby, and the rain came pounding down. “Foolish prideful idiot”! But instead of leaving me to suffer the consequences of my pride, Mark proved to be a good friend, and stopped further down the road where I gratefully accepted a lift. As things turned out, everyone had abandoned the run and found shelter.

 

Oh – the “blistering pace” turned out to be a very pedestrian 5:30 minutes per km!     

 

 

Sunday - Stormday

Sunday was a hot and humid Pietermaritzburg day. The kind of day that wakes you to sticky lethargy.  Lisa, Jenny and I went to church at Prestbury Methodist, where I had the privilege of leading worship, and being able to appreciate the preaching of Dianne Worringham. She is a gifted minister, and I valued her challenge to discipleship. Her essential thought was this: “A disciple of Jesus can only become a leader if first prepared to be lead by another.”

We then shared a long, lazy lunch at the Duckpond. This restaurant is behind a nursery, under shady trees with – naturally – a duckpond ..... and lots more ducks than we normally encounter. It is run by Riaan, who told us that someone had contacted him just before Christmas and asked if they could drop off some ducks. He was away, and told his manager to expect “some ducks” to be added to the three or four that normally swim in the pond. To his dismay, when he returned he found forty ducks swimming in his pond. I would not be surprised if the Sunday menu is altered shortly!

Back home in the afternoon saw the day getting darker and darker, as storm clouds began building in the sky. The humidity had built to a poihnt where we longed for the storm to break, and restore some cool air. Then the distant thunder was heard approaching over the hills from Durban, with the beginnings of lightening. At four in the afternoon the storm struck Pietermaritzburg. We experienced fierce winds, followed by torrential rain, and rumbles of thunder, laced with lightening. The back yard began rapidly filling with water from our over-flowing gutters, and for 30 minutes it became difficult to hear ourselves speak.  Subsequent to this storm we have discovered that many, many trees were felled across the city, accompanied by the destruction of walls, roofs and powerlines.

Jenny and I went outside to look at the retreating storm, and were struck by the silence after the storm – punctured by a lone bird tweeting a defiant tune. I can only imagine the terror this bird must have felt during the storm, contrasted by such joyous release expressed in song afterwards. Perhaps this is the essence of life: we have moments of fear.

Let us learn to sing our way through our fears, and so reclaim life after the storm.       

Cycling and Vehicles on the road

Today South African Olympic mountain biker Burry Stander died after a collision with a taxi o the south coast in Kwazulu-Natal. This month two years ago, another top cyclist, Carla Swart, died when she was hit by a truck while on a training ride. AA managing director Karen Bryden  notes the tragic regularity of cycling accidents on our roads:  "During 2010, 252 cyclists alone were killed and an estimated 800 more injured." (http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Cyclist-deaths-on-roads-increase-20121017).

This is close to home for me. My good friend Allen Rodgers was hit from behind by a driver who never bothered to stop. He lay in a coma in hospital for a week, before beginning a very painful and slow recovery. And I have a nephew who is a professional cyclist, braving traffic every day while he trains for road races.  

I am angry. And sad. Because we drive our vehicles with reckless disregard for human life. It seems that getting behind a steering wheel de-sensitises us to the humanness of the other people who share our road space. Instead the daily commute becomes a competition for road space that is conducted with viciousness and brutal efficiency.

I will choose to drive with sacred regard for the lives of those around me.

 

New Blog

As noted on New Year's Day - I am setting myself the goal of a daily reflection on the Scriptures. The passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants :, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983). I plan a short reflection on the assigned passage for the day. However - this is a departure from the format of this blog, which has been running for the past six years.

On reflection it seem more useful to locate the daily reflection in its own blog - and leave this blog to continue to be my place of reflection on life. So I am inviting you to go to http://rockinthought.blogspot.com/ if you want a daily Bible reading and reflection

Last Words of the Condemned Man

2 Peter 1: 3-11

His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For anyone who lacks these things is short-sighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins.  Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble.  For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

If I was given the opportunity for a few final words before my death, I wonder what I might say? The words above from 2 Peter are the final words from one who knows he is about to die (see 2 Peter 1: 14 & 15).  It seems likely that it written in Rome by Peter, or a disciple of Peter, during Nero’s persecution of the church – possibly 68AD. Reading the last words of a condemned man therefore takes on a special poignancy.

 He assures his readers that we have all we need for life. This is made specific, in a world that is corrupted by lust. Put in other words – those who follow Jesus are reminded that there is a choice to be made: either allow human greed for more possessions to control you, or choose to trust that the power of God “has given us everything needed for life”.

For this New Year I will learn from one who is about to die: I choose to trust my life in God’s hands, and will keep resisting the corruption of  lust.

New Year’s Day

A new year has begun. And I am setting myself the goal of a daily reflection on the Scriptures. The passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck,  A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants :, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983). Clearly this is an adventure that will unfold in its own time, but I plan a short reflection on the assigned passage for the day. This reflection will arise from my own devotional exercises for the day, and if anyone else finds this helpful – so be it.

 John 15: 12-17
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.  I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

"...my commandment, that you love one another...”. For those who first heard this, it must have seemed a difficult activity. The disciples of Jesus struggled to overcome their jealousy of one another (Mark 10:35-45), and their anger at other groups that followed Jesus (Luke 9:49).  Now they are commanded to replace their desire for competition with a decision for co-operation.

The Gospel of John records this commandment of Jesus one hundred years after Jesus was born – a time when new followers of Jesus also found it very hard to love one another. This was a time of many different Jesus-following groups, many of whom claimed to have the “right version” of Jesus teaching. In time the Donatists, the Marcionites, the Gnostics and the Hellenists would clash with each other as they struggled to define the true doctrine of Christ. And somehow the intention of commandment to love one another was lost in the competition for religious power.   

This command has continued to haunt the followers of Jesus through the past two thousand years, as each succeeding generation of Christ-following groups have wanted to hold the moral high ground on spiritual truth. Today we see the clash of groups under the banners of liberal and conservative, fundamentalist and post-modernist, traditional and emerging church, and each time the commandment of Jesus come alive again: “Love one another as I have loved you”.

My New Year’s resolution is this: to practice the love of Jesus with unconditional regard for the group that person represents. I shall join with religious fundamentalists, atheists, and those who believe anything in-between, and seek to love each with equal passion. I shall show the same loving acceptance of those who are bewildered by the truth and of those who claim to have monopoly on all truth. But be warned – loving someone does not mean that I will be tolerant of behaviour that is the opposite of love: injustice, oppression and abuse will be opposed. To this end I shall join hands with anyone who seeks to lay down their lives in the cause of love – for all love comes from, and leads to God.

May God bless us with love for 2013.     

Light in the Darkness

My sermon yesterday: preached at the Rusthof Methodist Church.

 

Christmas 2012

Joh 1:1 – 14

  Text: Joh 1:5  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Intro: I want to take us to Christmas day nearly 2 000 years ago. It is 100 years after Jesus was born, and a group of Christians have met to celebrate his birthday – but they did not feel like there was much to celebrate. In the first 100 years it felt like everything had gone wrong:

1.     They had experienced two insane Emperors:
          Caligula – who was assassinated by his Roman guard.
          Nero – who killed his own mother, and probably burned Rome to get rid of shacks that blocked his palace entrance.
2.    70 AD a huge Roman army conquered Jerusalem. Their commander was Titus, the son of the Emperor, who killed one million residents, and took another 97 000 captive as slaves.   
3.    79 AD: Mount Vesuvius explodes, completely destroying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the deaths of at least 20 000 people.
4.    89 AD : Titus the Emperor dies, and his brother Domitian begins a reign of terror.
And so the World is in Chaos:
Ø  Corrupt Emperors who reign by terror
Ø  Jerusalem is gone – no place to worship
Ø  And the Christians are thought to be remnants of the rebellion in Jerusalem.
A very gloomy Christmas gathering of Christians: Their teacher gets them together and says to them: let me remind us about Jesus:Their teacher’s name is John.And John says that Jesus came for a time such as this: Jesus comes to bring light into darkness.

When John begins talking about Jesus his story opens with the words “In the beginning”. Let us note that this Gospel starts in the beginning: this is not with Mary and Joseph (as in Matthew and Luke) or with John the Baptizer (as in Mark);John takes us to a time before creation! This is a deliberate link with Creation accounts of Genesis:

Gen 1:1  In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,
Gen 1:2  the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep
This appeals to the fear that Jewish people had of water. When the world began it was wild and chaotic – and then God stepped in! The breath of God moved over the face of the waters and brought order from chaos.

This Gospel of John is written at a time when the world seemed to be in chaos. And it is in this context that John writes to the first Christian Church: “Remember how in the beginning God brought order from chaos? Well God has done it again”.

  Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Joh 1:2  He was in the beginning with God. Joh 1:3  All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being Joh 1:4  in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. Joh 1:5  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

John is saying: Do not be afraid if you see chaos around you – God will bring order; Do not be afraid of the darkness – God will bring light; Do not be afraid if you see death around you – God will bring life. And how will he do it? He will do it in the same way as he did in the beginning:

He will speak a Word.
God said “Let there be light …. And there was light”
God said “Let there be dry land … and there was dry land”
God said “Let there be plants, and animals, and people … and they came into being”

And

God said “Let there be love … and there was Jesus”

When there is chaos – God speaks a word and brings his order.
Let us hear the invitation: to discover the links with our own lives.
We also can be overwhelmed by the darkness:
·         Internationally: Children killed at a preschool in USA /
·         We still have corruption: Emperors / businesses / officials.
·         We have death on our roads: Since 1 December an average of 34 people a day have died on our roads.

Perhaps personal darkness:

Ø  Sadness at the dinner table when you see an open place…. A beloved member of the family has died.
Ø  Illness has struck you down – and this Christmas feels dark
Ø  The year ended badly and you feel like 2013 is dark?
Ø   My personal darkness: my youngest daughter is not here for Christmas: Amy is working in Japan – and a bit of light is missing for Christmas.

 We have darkness around us the question arises: “Who will speak the Word of God?”

Who will speak light into darkness …?
And my question is:

Will you speak the light of Jesus to someone else?

A choice for today:

Either go to lunch and speak about the darkness – complain about everything that is wrong in your life ..Price of food / corruption / your mother-in-law
Or you can speak of the light. Tell stories of how Jesus has helped you through this past year;

I want to challenge you to go from here to:

1.     Celebrate:  This is claiming light even when it feels like darkness.

2.    Light a light for someone else today..

 So am offering you a reminder – a candle. (Stewards to hand out candles)

Light this before your meal and pray a prayer where you claim the light of Jesus for your family, and where you speak with your family of a way in which you can light the darkness of someone else..