The Spirit of the Queen's King

This sermon was preached on Pentecost Sunday, 5 June 2022.  It seems a fitting tribute to share now as we mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II.  We can give thanks that the Queen's King has called her home.

Acts 2:1-4; Ephesians 4

 

I am a Baptist minister, and I feel slightly ambivalent about celebrating the British monarchy.  Thomas Helwys is recognised as the founder of the first Baptist Church in Spitalfields, London.  In 1613, he wrote a booklet called ‘A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity’ which amongst other things, defended the right of all to religious liberty.  He sent a copy to King James 1, who exercised his power against that freedom, and had Helwys imprisoned in Newgate Gaol, where he died in 1616.  So, I must choose my words carefully this morning.

 

Having said that, I have nothing but praise for Queen Elizabeth II.  She has been a remarkable monarch who has crossed eras and transcended the times in her new Elizabethan era.  In all of this, her Christian faith has been not just the bedrock, but as Archbishop Stephen Cottrell said on Friday, the well and the fountain of her life. 

 

To show that I have no hard feelings to the Queen to her forebears’ imprisonment of my Baptist predecessor, Helwys, this morning’s sermon comes largely from the Queen, as we think about ‘The Spirit of the Queen’s King’.  On the Day of Pentecost, the Spirit came like a rushing wind with fire and praises to God in many languages.  Today, the Spirit of the King may still come like that, but more often the Spirit arrives in the still small voice, the whispering of conscience, the inner strength that empowers us to follow the King and make him known.  That seems to be the case with our Queen.  She knows the King deeply, and has his Spirit to be a unique disciple of Jesus Christ.

 

Listen to these words from the then Princess Elizabeth on her 21^st birthday:

 

‘I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.  But I shall not have strength to carry out this resolution alone unless you join it with me, as I now invite you to do: I know your support will be unfailingly given.  God help me to make good my vow, and God bless all of you who are willing to share it.’

 

Like her, we are called by Jesus to serve and share our faith.  We follow the same King as our Queen, we can be filled with the same Spirit as her.  Although our positions on earth are very different to hers, in heaven we are One in Christ, called to one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

 

At her coronation in 1953, Elizabeth was anointed with oil; an outward and visible symbol of the inward invisible grace that comes to us by the Holy Spirit.  For her, of course, it was also a mark that God had chosen her to be Queen, something which I know she believes strongly.  Without needing all the ceremony, we too are anointed with the Spirit as we commit our lives to Jesus, and hopefully, again and again through our lives.  I believe that nothing can take away our anointing in the Spirit; He is our guarantee of a wonderful inheritance in Jesus.  How will we emulate the Queen in being filled with the Spirit of the King?

 

In 2000, the Queen said:

 

‘For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life.  I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example.’

 

And in 2002:

 

‘I know just how much I rely on my faith to guide me through the good times and the bad.  Each day is a new beginning.  I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, to give of my best in all that thee day brings, and to put my trust in God!’

 

And if anyone should doubt the sincerity of the Queen’s belief that Jesus is more than just a moral teacher, listen to this from 2011:

 

‘Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves – from our recklessness or our greed.  God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general (important though they are), but a Saviour, with the power to forgive.’

 

Our King calls us by his Spirit, he anoints and fills us with his Spirit.  Finally, he equips us.  ‘To each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it’ (Eph 4:7).  The Queen has been uniquely equipped by the circumstances of her birth, her education, her upbringing and her experiences, but more than anything else it is the grace that her King has given by his Spirit that impacts her life.  We are each unique and very different to the Queen, but like her we have the gift of God’s Spirit and the gifts of grace that he chooses to give to each.

 

We are called, we are filled, we are equipped by the Spirit of the Queen’s King!  I came across this quote on my recent retreat, which covers all three of those things and which continues to challenge me.  Here it is: ‘God’s call won’t take you, where his grace won’t keep you.’  I think the Queen has found that to be true in her varied and often challenging life of service.  Will we, like her, allow the Spirit of the King to direct our lives where he calls us to serve?

 

Here are a few final words of the Queen, taken from her Christmas message in 2013:

 

‘This is the time of year when we remember that God sent his only son ‘to serve, not to be served’.  He restored love and service to the centre of our lives in the person of Jesus.

 

‘For Christians, as for all people of faith, reflection, meditation and pray helps us to renew ourselves in God’s love, as we strive daily to become better people.  The Christmas message shows us that this love is for everyone.  There is no one beyond its reach.’

Revd Tim Edworthy

The Good Way

The Good Way

‘This is what the Lord says, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”’ (Jeremiah 6:6)

Perhaps it is inevitable, but many Camino walkers are at a crossroads. There are those who travel between jobs, using the opportunity for time out to prepare for the next challenge. There are those who seek to discern their way ahead. There are some who seek closure on a relationship gone wrong or a way through the pain of bereavement.  I have spoken with one person who felt himself falling into temptation on the Camino and sought my counsel.

Some are people of Christian faith, some follow other faiths, some have no faith that they would own up to. Some would like to find faith. Camino walkers are a very diverse bunch!

As some readers will know, I met a famous British comic who is on the Camino. He even bought me a drink! I asked why he was walking the Camino, and his answer was that he has always wanted to do so. That may be the simple answer of many, but perhaps there are deeper reasons. Even on sabbatical leave, I find myself being a pastor. I hope that my listening and my words point people to see where the good way is and find rest for their souls.

In case you are wondering, I don’t consider myself to be at a crossroads, but I am finding rest: in the walking, in the interactions and friendships with others, in the stay at albergues each day. Tonight’s (Wednesday 25/9) albergue in Rabanal is a particular joy. It is run by the London based Confraternity of St James. I write these word sitting in a large orchard garden awaiting afternoon tea. God is good!

After 8 Days on the Camino

After 8 days walking in which I’ve covered 154 miles, a routine has developed. I get up around 6am and onto the Camino by 6.30-7, with my head torch on. At the earliest opportunity, I stop for breakfast including strong coffee. There will be at least one more stop for lunch. By 2pm I hope to have found a bed for the night. If an albergue is full, I move on.  Once settled in, I shower, change and then wash my walking clothes. Hopefully, they’ll dry in time for the next day!

Sometimes, I walk alone and other times I chat to others. Conversations can become deep very quickly. Although not all pilgrims will journey to Santiago, we have a common direction – east to west - and many of us have a common destination.  On my first day, one woman shared that she was hoping to reconnect with God after suffering abuse in an outwardly respectable Christian marriage, and losing faith.  Yesterday, an American pilgrim told me how he found faith. He was searching for meaning in life.  He saw an ad in a newspaper lying on the ground. It asked, ‘Who is God?’ He rang the telephone number and his faith journey began.

Of course, I share my story too.  I also speak of Toybox, seeking to improve the lot of street children around the world.

At the time of writing, I am staying in a lovely village albergue. The owners are Brazilian, and have connections to the writer, Paolo Coelho. In a short while I will enjoy a shared meal with other pilgrims. It’s smelling delicious!

Please keep praying for me. My feet are blister-free, but my left ankle and right knee have today become a little swollen.  It would be good to experience healing!

'I still haven't found what I'm looking for'

‘I still haven’t found what I’m looking for’

Chances are you’ll have heard the above lyric and may even be able to hum the tune.  Thirty-one years ago, the song reached number 6 in the UK singles chart and number 1 in the US.  It’s been ubiquitous in radio playlists ever since.

Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr: collectively known as the band ‘U2’, whose album ‘The Joshua Tree’ included this song.   

But wait a minute: what do they mean they still haven’t found what they are looking for?  Aren’t they meant to be a Christian band?  Those were the questions circulating among the festival goers of Greenbelt back in 1987.  After all, Bono had announced in U2’s impromptu performance there in 1981, that they came because they felt the Lord was telling them to.  Subsequent songs seemed to back up that status as a Christian band: ‘Sunday, Bloody Sunday’ with its intent to ‘claim the victory Jesus won’; ‘40’, Bono’s take on Psalm 40; and ‘Pride (In the name of love)’, though more obscure in its references, alluded to Jesus with its line, ‘One man came he to justify’.  For Bono, the band’s usual lyricist, to declare ‘I still haven’t found what I’m looking for’ seemed like a betrayal of the faith.  Many Christian young people – evangelical Christians at least – felt that the band was backsliding. I recall one incensed letter – I think it was to ‘21^stCentury Christian’ magazine – that castigated Bono and urged him, in as many words, to pull himself together!

What are we to make of the band’s faith, both then and now?  The truth is that U2 has never set out to be a Christian band.  Rather, they are a band whose music and lyrics are influenced by the Christian faith of three of them.  Adam Clayton is the one band member who has followed more of a typical ‘Rock’n’Roll’ lifestyle, although there are signs these days of his own sympathy for the Christian faith.  Like anyone (like me, anyway) growing into adult years with religious beliefs, they have embraced certainty and doubt at different times, and maybe at the same time.  They have explored faith through music and like many artists, they have left a deliberate ambiguity.  It is not up to the band to tell their fans what to believe, but they provoke and cajole us into thinking about these things.  

For a while, one of the ‘go-to’ speakers for Greenbelt was Revd John Smith, an Australian minister. He hung out with bikers and drank beer, heaven forfend!  He also knew Bono, so that was cool.  At the festival in, it must have been 1987, he spoke of how Bono had visited the day before, disguised as a steward.  That’s by the by.  Smith spoke about the criticism of the song and asked, ‘How many of you have really found what you are looking for?’  Good question!

In any case, it’s unwise to build a case based upon a song title, and that’s what many at the time appear to have done.  ‘Bono still hasn’t found what he’s looking for.  Does that mean he’s no longer a Christian?’  Take a look at these lyrics from the song:

I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colours will bleed into one
Bleed into one.
But yes, I'm still running.

You broke the bonds
And you loosed the chains
Carried the cross of my shame
Oh my shame, you know I believe it.

But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for.
But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for.

Bono speaks of what theologians call ‘the now and not yet’ of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus Christ came to usher in God’s Kingdom – the now – and much has changed with his coming, for many people.  There is still, however, much brokenness in the world, and in that sense the Kingdom has not yet come.  ‘I believe in the Kingdom come…’

Bono relates what Jesus has done for him, releasing him from shame into a new freedom through the cross. Yet he wants more of God and of God’s Kingdom.  It’s right for him to sing, ‘I still haven’t found what I’m looking for’.  It’s appropriate for me.  I want more of God’s Kingdom.  I want to see broken lives restored, equality for all, peace for all, freedom for all, opportunity for all.  

The music and performances of U2 in the 90’s had the critics continuing to question the faith of the band (more of that in another blog).  Yet the humanitarian actions of Bono (e.g. Jubilee 2000, DATA, Amnesty International) and music of the band since 2000 leaves me no doubt: they still haven’t found what they are looking for!  But they believe that one day they will.  

The band’s music points me back to the Bible and the ‘now and not yet’ of God’s Kingdom.  How am I seeking to make a difference in God’s world?  How am I are a part of the Kingdom coming?  I still haven’t found what I am looking for, but one day I will!

U2: From early beginnings to global success

U2: From early beginnings to global success

I am one of 10000 or so who can say, ‘I was there!’  I was there when an up and coming Irish band named U2 made an impromptu appearance on the main stage at the Greenbelt Festival in August 1981.  As I recall, they had travelled down from the north-east to perform, using borrowed instruments, before returning there for a concert later that evening.  At the time, they were beginning to break through and to be seen as the latest ‘Christian’ band.  The lead singer did nothing to refute that as he told the crowd, ‘We’ve come because we felt the Lord was telling us to.’  Six years later, U2 would be the biggest rock band in the world.

Bono, Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Junior.  These are names known to many, the band line-up at their first gig in late 1976, and still together 42 years later.  Arguably, U2 is still the biggest and best band in the world, with sales approaching 200 million albums.  Unlike certain bands that endure as a tribute act to themselves (for example, the Rolling Stones), U2 continues to reinvent their music and to have things to say.  

What are the factors that have contributed to the success and influence of U2?  I am currently part way through some sabbatical reading on the band, but these are some brief thoughts thus far:

1.     Time and place.  The band members met at Mount Temple School in Dublin.  Neil McCormick, a journalist and contemporary at the school, suggests that 1970’s Dublin was a city that lacked exposure to the wider world. This meant that U2 did not have many examples to follow, good or bad.  They could create in their own way.

2.    The school itself.  Mount Temple was unique in Ireland as a non-denominational school.  It encouraged freedom of thought and expression.  Bono (Paul Hewson) formed a childhood gang called Lypton Village, that gave him his nickname and allowed him space to develop an identity in what was very much a creative community.  Not only did it contribute to the formation of U2, but also the less-heralded and experimental band, the Virgin Prunes.  Dik Evans, brother of the Edge, was a founder member, along with Gavin Friday and Guggi (their Lypton Village names).

3.    Loss. Tragically, Bono’s mother died when he was only 14.  She collapsed at the funeral of her father, having suffered a brain haemorrhage, and never recovered.  This loss is often referenced in Bono’s lyrics (he is the primary lyricist for U2), from  the early hit ‘I will follow’ (‘The boy tries hard to be a man, his mother takes him by the hand’) to ‘Iris’ (on ‘Songs of Innocence’).  It fuels the rage that he sometimes feels at the world.  Larry Mullen, the band’s drummer, also lost his mother in a road traffic accident, when he was almost 17, having also lost his oldest sister in 1973.

4.    Christian faith. Bono, Edge and Larry have all embraced a Christian faith from teenage years.  Adam has tended to follow a more ‘rock and roll’ path!  Mount Temple underwent something of a religious revival for a time with many pupils making commitments to Christ.  The three Christian members of U2 became part of a Charismatic church called the Shalom Fellowship, which was a huge influence in their faith development.

5.    Leaving the Shalom Fellowship.  As the band gained some success, they came under pressure to give it up for the Lord. Apparently, there was a prophetic word from a member of the fellowship that they do so, and for about two weeks, Edge left the band.  He returned having decided that their music and their faith was compatible.  The band members gradually loosened ties to the fellowship and pursued their faith in other ways.

6.    Success in America.  Even before their career began to flourish in the British Isles, U2 sought to ‘break’ America.  That the strategy was spectacularly successful can be seen the sale of over 10 million copies of the 1987 album, the Joshua Tree, in the US alone.  That success continues to this day.

7.    A commitment to social activism.  In 1988, Bono said: ‘To me, faith in Jesus Christ that is not aligned to social justice – that is not aligned with the poor – it’s nothing’ (quoted by Steve Stockman p 53, in his book ‘Walk On’).  That commitment is exemplified in his work for Amnesty International, persuasion of world leaders to ‘Drop the Debt’ in developing world countries, and the fight against AIDS.

You may already have stopped reading.  I’ll stop here for now!

-->

Watch this space for thoughts on the continuing influences on U2’s lyrics and particularly that of the Christian faith.

Faith on the Golf Course

As members of my church know, I aspire to play golf!  Often, I arrive at my golf club on my own and end up playing with someone that I meet on the first tee.  The game progresses and eventually, usually on the sixth hole, my opponent asks me what I do for a living.  ‘I’m a Baptist minister,’ I reply.  There’s a silence, as they think, ‘What have I said?  How much have I sworn?’  As if we clergy haven’t heard it all before!  Or used it …..?

Last Saturday, it happened again – although, this time not until the sixteenth hole!  My opponent asked the question, I answered.  He apologized, ‘Oh, sorry about the language!’  Well, what does one say?  You can take offence, but that doesn’t really help.  You can ignore it, but that doesn’t respond to the apology.  I said, ‘That’s OK.  I can cope with the swearing – nearly everyone does it.  What I don’t like is when people say ‘Christ!’ all the time as a swear-word.’  He didn’t really respond, but I hope it gave him something to think about.  Clearly, he was not put out as he sent me polite e-mail later in the day, thanking me for the game.

It made me think, too.  When is it right to overlook people’s behaviour and language, though it may not be our own way, and when is it right to speak out?  It reminds me of the words of 1 Peter 3:15:

‘In your hearts, revere Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect…’

Faith and Common Sense

I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front for the past few weeks. However, here's a brief quote I read and reflected upon during an early morning walk. It's from Oswald Chamber's 'My Utmost for His Highest' which happens to be a part of my iPhone Bible. The date was 30th August, and the verse was John 11:40 - 'Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"'

I'm not sure the verse totally fits the comment, but I found the latter very challenging.

• ‘Common sense is not faith and faith is not common sense. In fact, they are as different as the natural life and the spiritual. Can you trust Jesus Christ where your common sense cannot trust Him? Can you venture out with courage on the words of Jesus Christ, while the realities of your commonsense life continue to shout “It’s all a lie”?’

It made me wonder how much we put first the commonsense considerations of career progress, family and security, when God may have a different plan? It still does.

The Big Welcome

This morning my church excelled themselves, and hopefully I did too, as we extended a ‘Big Welcome’ for Back to Church Sunday.

My faith is too small at times like this! I live in fear that none of the invited guests will come along, despite my constant reminders to my congregation that it is our task to invite and the Holy Spirit’s role to get people there. Yet, as a preacher, you can’t help feeling that your inspiring, humorous and challenging message (that’s the plan, anyway) will fall a bit flat if it is only the usual congregation in attendance.

Well, it went brilliantly! Joel led the service extremely well, the music group sounded great, the welcome team were on top form, the sermon went well, the congregation laughed in the right places and the hall where we had tea, coffee and cake afterwards was packed out. I have totted up at least a dozen guests who came due to our invitation, and I have a feeling that I may have missed some. I have reports of at least seven of the guests saying that they will come again. Add to these the new family that came along for the third week running, the return of several members after illness and the arrival at the end of the service of a Latvian couple who were put in touch with me by Hope Now in Latvia, and it was an extremely good morning.

So my faith is small but God’s faithfulness is huge. I’d like to have more faith, and occasions such as this morning do bring an increase. Yet I’ll always be grateful for Jesus’ response to the disciples who asked why they could not help a man who was afflicted with seizures. "Because you're not yet taking God seriously," said Jesus. "The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, 'Move!' and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn't be able to tackle." (Matthew 17:20, The Message).

A mere kernel of faith can be used by God – isn’t that great? There is nothing we will not be able to tackle – even inviting people to Back to Church Sunday, and letting God do the rest!