Sermon 22 May: Trinity Sunday

READINGS: Ps 8; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15 

SERMON Let’s pray:

May the words of my mouth and the meditations 

of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, 

O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer.  Amen.

It was a mystery.

And he had been puzzling over it for near on 30 years.

He had written thousands upon thousands of words 

and yet, none of them felt adequate.

All of them fell short of the mark.

How do you describe the indescribable? 

How do you try to comprehend the incomprehensible?

It was a daunting task;

It was madness:

a work that could never be completed in a single lifetime.

It was a mystery, a puzzle, an enigma.

One day, as he walked on the beach, 

his mind overwhelmed by the immensity of the task, 

he saw a young child playing.

As he watched, the child dug a small hole, 

then ran to the water’s edge with a shell in hand.

Gently, carefully, the child filled the shell with water 

and tiptoed back across the sand.

The shell was upturned, and water trickled into the hole;

the child then went back to the water’s edge.

The great thinker watched, as again, and again, 

the child with the tiny shell  

moved between the water’s edge and the hole, 

collecting, carrying, pouring.

Walking up to the child, he smiled.

‘What are you doing, little one?’ he asked.

The child looked up at him with a solemn face and replied:

‘I'm trying to pour the ocean into this hole.’

The great thinker considered the child’s answer for a moment and responded gently:

‘But the ocean is vast. What makes you think that you can empty

 the immense ocean into this tiny hole, with just a small shell?’

The child continued to look solemnly at the great thinker and then,

in a strange and otherworldly voice said:

‘And what makes you think that you can comprehend 

the immensity of God with your tiny human mind.’

And with that, the child vanished leaving the great thinker alone 

on that empty beach, looking at a tiny hole in which sea water 

seeped into damp sand...

Today we celebrate, and reflect upon, mystery:

a mystery that the Church has puzzled over for near on 2 000 years.

There have been thousands of words written - 

including the thousands written by the great thinker we heard about in the story - 

the 5th century African theologian Augustine - 

and while the story of Augustine’s strange beach encounter may be mere legend....

in this second decade of the 21st century

we are still none the wiser about the mystery he was pondering.

Words are not enough;

all of them fall far short of the mark

as we try to describe the indescribable,

and comprehend the incomprehensible:

the mystery and immensity of God,

Father

Son

and Holy Spirit - 

one God

in three persons...

...blessed Trinity.

It is a mystery,

this business of the Trinity

yet, every year, for near-on 2 000 years, 

church communities have listened as preachers have used 

a variety of examples to try and come close to explaining the inexplicable:

God, like a shamrock - three leaves but one stem

God, like water in 3 forms: water, steam, ice...but still water

God, like an egg: shell, yolk, white...

All of these okay, but yet, not quite right.

It’s a tough job... 

so perhaps we should just stick to the words of the Athenasian Creed - 

you can almost hear the writers sighing and shrugging as they wrote:

God the Father: incomprehensible

God the Son: incomprehensible

God the Holy Spirit: incomprehensible.

But is mystery necessarily a bad thing?

And will we cope if we haven’t got the answer 

to every single question this side of heaven?  

I suspect... yes.

And I also suspect, from scripture, that we don’t get to know the whole shebang 

this side of heaven anyway:

Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 13, notes 

‘for now we know in part: then we shall see, face to face.’

Personally, I kinda like the anticipation, and of knowing there’s a whole lot more to come.

So, if we don’t get to unravel the whole mystery 

of who God is and what this matter of the Trinity is about, 

where might we go from here?

If we explore God as Trinity within the context 

of love and belonging and relationship, 

- concepts that are a little more easy to get our heads around - 

how might that affect the way in which we live our lives?

In a small nod to ecumenism: the 1982 communion liturgy of the 

Scottish Episcopal Church, paraphrasing the 1st Letter of John, 

states that:

‘God is love and we are God’s children.

There is no room for fear in love.

We love, because God loved us first.’

For me, this gets to the heart of the matter:

relationships of love -

God    is    love...

and, our response to that love.

In the 16th century, the Russian artist Andrei Rublev 

tried to paint his understanding of the Trinity: 

Father, Son, and Spirit.

It’s the picture you have in front of you 

on your order of service, and also given out with your order, 

which I’d invite you to take out and have a look at now...  

Rublev was very much trying to demonstrate this sense of God 

living in harmonious and perfect community. 

This sense of unity within the relationship of each of the figures 

is indicated by the way their heads incline one to the other, 

almost making an outline of a circle. 

This shows how they're bound together as one 

by a common will and mutual love: love unites them.

...God as a Trinity of love.

God the Father: the one who loves

God the Son: the beloved

God the Holy Spirit: the love that flows so strongly between Father and Son, 

that it takes on shape and substance of its own.

And, mirroring this, for us who are created in God’s image, we might ask:

How do we love?

Who do we love?

What is the impact of that love on others?

It is a mystery, this business of the Trinity

and yet, the overarching theme appears to be community;

to be about relationship.

While our reading from the psalms reminded us of 

how majestic, how great, is our God – 

and that we are in a relationship of praise 

with the whole of creation as we worship God,

our other two readings both contained mentions of God 

within the context of relationship – 

within what we call the three persons of the Trinity...

God as Father

as Son

and as Holy Spirit.

In Romans we hear of God who poured out his love to us through the Spirit...

of God further demonstrating that love for us 

in the life and death of the Son – of Jesus...

God, who, in a community of relationship as Father, Son, and Spirit

creates a reconciling relationship with us –

and calls us into community.

God, as Trinity, modelling what perfect, loving community looks like:

always giving, always looking out for the other, 

and always done within the context of mutual love.

Elsewhere in scripture – the gospel of Matthew, 

when Jesus sends out the disciples to tell others the message of God’s love,

he calls them to go and make other disciples and to baptise them:

in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - 

again, the holy community that is God.

And the one who is baptised enters into the church - 

the community of God’s people.

As God is in the perfect community of the Trinity,

so those who believe are to live within the context of community:

we do so, because we are members of Christ’s body here on earth.

This sense of relationship - of belonging to God - 

and of being a part of God’s people – 

and of modelling lives lived in the fullness and richness of community,

is brought out in our gospel reading from John.

Jesus says: 

‘I tell you...anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.'

And then observes that the power to follow Jesus, 

to do what Jesus has done,

is only given within the context of 

the relationship between Father, Son, and Spirit –

As Jesus goes to the Father, 

and speaks for us, his brothers and sisters,

so the Spirit comes to us, enabling us to do great things...

enabling us to live lives in love,

this, because we are enfolded within the love of the community that is God –

and because we live within the community who are called together as God’s people.

Jesus, in effect, is reminding his disciples 

whose they are, 

and how they should live...

lives modelled on the holy and harmonious relationship 

of Father, Son, and Spirit:

lives lived in grace, love, and fellowship.

And there’s an openness to love.

Our painting by Rublev has an open space at the front:

it’s as if we’re being invited in to sit at the table...

God looks outwards, not inwards - 

looking out in love towards us, 

towards the world.

In turn, we are to look outwards not inwards - 

look in love at the wider world around us:

to welcome all people,

to demonstrate heavenly hospitality 

on earth as it is in heaven:

to build communities of love - 

as in the prayer of St Francis:

‘where there is hatred, sow love,

where there is injury, pardon; 

where there is doubt, faith; 

where there is despair, hope; 

where there is darkness, light; 

where there is sadness, joy.’

And, as we go out marching into the world and do so, 

we have the promise of Jesus, who says:

‘I will be with you always, to the end of the age.’

The life of faith is a life lived within the community of God, 

the community of God’s people – 

we’re not called to bear our burdens, or celebrate our joys alone –

we do this together – 

sharing and caring with and for each other,

just as God, as Father, Son, and Spirit

work in seamless harmony and love, and attend to one another.

The Trinity: 

it’s a mystery.

One that will continue to puzzle human beings until the end of time.

Thousands of words will be added to those already written;

all trying to comprehend the incomprehensible and never really succeeding.

But in the end, what matters is this:

love:

the love of the God who dwells in perfect community;

the love of God whose love is limitless, immeasurable

and welcomes us in - 

the love that creates a place at the table for all...

And, as God loves,

so we are to reflect that love because:

'we believe in God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

the Three-in-One and One-in-Three,

God in three persons,

Blessed Trinity...'

Let’s pray:

three is the magic number

calling us out of individualism

insisting on relationship:

I, to you,

we, to another;

trinity – creating relationships

until all the cosmos joins in

one to create

one to save

one to sustain

one to author

one to fight

one to enliven

one to conceive

one to die

one to resurrect

one to plan

one to act

one to explain

one's sufficient

two's company:

three's community

God of trinity: 

expose our self-reliance,

break open our exclusivity,

continue your creative work

of building relationships

here, and now, among us,

your people... amen

Reflection Zone: a mid-week blessing

[With thanks to Rev. Genevieve Turner Razim. Artwork by Rev. Jay Sidebotham.]

Discussion Group

UCPC Discussion Group meets this week

'Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things.' Chaim Potok 

We meet on Thursday, 7.30pm, in Leadhills Village Hall: a cosy chat around the kitchen table this month, as the hall itself is being used by the stained glass class. A cuppa, some cake, and good conversation - see you there!  

Christian Aid Week update: 'Wonderful Worms'

It's Christian Aid Week. Here's some of what we've been doing so far:

On Sunday, during worship, 
we celebrated both Pentecost and Christian Aid Week - with plenty of red splashed about the worship space.
A small team had tiptoed in on Friday night, and blew up nearly 100 balloons, and hung up Christian Aid bunting. After all those balloons, we were getting a little light-headed!

In the weeks leading up to the service, the minister had asked people, if possible, to wear something red on the day - so along with our decorations, we also had Pentecost/ Christian Aid people. There was also a rather large birthday cake to celebrate the 'birthday' of the church - which we enjoyed at morning tea after the service. We have a special collection bucket at the door for both Sundays, and hopefully will raise some money to help folk living in difficult conditions in Bangladesh... including providing worms...

which we've been learning about in Leadhills and Lamingon Primary Schools.  We've been thinking about people who live on the river islands in Bangladesh, and a strange kind of 'buried treasure' - wonderful worms. The worms are part of a project by Christian Aid to help people living in the river islands enrich what is quite poor soil - the worms help to make good compost, and in turn, encourages good, healthy food to be grown. You can watch the video here:

Lunch Club, May 18th

Join us for our May Lunch Club...

NB CHANGE OF DATE from 25th to the 18th

                          ...before we break for the summer. Good food, good company. All welcome!

Sermon, 8 May: Ascension

Today's readings:

Ps 47

Acts 1:1-11

Luke 24:44-53

Let’s pray:

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts, 

be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and redeemer, Amen.

BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM [1]

Begin in the brightly painted kitchens.

At the table set for supper and 

on the wide couches where we watch TV. 

Begin while we are sorting

the laundry, writing out the shopping list.

And in front of our bathroom mirrors.

Begin in the barns among the warmth of animals

and the smells of grain and manure.

Begin in the growing fields, and in the flooded

pastures, and where the rains have not come

and the soil is cracked    and hard.

Begin in the gleaming office towers, the shiny

shopping malls, the sweaty factory floors.

Begin on crumbling sidewalks and amid

the rumble of subways. 

At machines, 

at our desks,

by the coffee makers and computers.

Begin with the rich, the comfortable.

Begin with the poor, the desperate.

Among the successful, the self-assured.

Among the failed and the floundering.

In the glitter of the halls of power,

and in the cold and shadowed corners

of tragedy and defeat.

Begin on a day when the sun is brilliant;

on a day when the sky is gray.

In a time when economies are favorable;

in a time when all is rust;

at the moment when leaders are caring;

or amid indifference, hostility, despair.

Let us begin beginning again. And whether

we have begun and triumphed, or begun

and struggled and faltered, 

we will continue

our beginning, 

as we have from our beginning,

at Jerusalem,

which is wherever

and whoever we are ...

----------------------------------------------

Endings.

Endings and beginnings.

They are often tricky things to get right.

And if you get them wrong, 

you can be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

We’ve been, in these last several weeks, on an Easter journey:

a journey that began with a man,

on a donkey,

riding into the city of Jerusalem;

a man, 

cheered at,

waved at,

carrying the weight of so many 

expectations on his back –

expectations of what a messiah 

should look like,

should be,

should do.

Expectations that, for the most part, were based upon 

definitions bound by a very human understanding of what success - 

of what deliverance -

should look like,

should be,

and of how it should be done...

but not necessarily definitions based upon God’s understanding of messiahship 

and of power

and of how to overturn principalities and powers:

not by might.

Not by force.

But by humility -

by self-giving love.

We know the story of how that man’s journey 

into Jerusalem seemed to end:

betrayal,

torture,

and death.

But then, a beginning:

a few days later, 

the very definition of death was overturned –

an empty tomb,

folded grave-clothes,

a cry of ‘I have seen the Lord!’

Shock, pain, and fear...turned to joy.

A new beginning.

Meeting with friends and explaining again

the parts of the story that they’d not understood

the first time around.

The Teacher, teaching them once more.

Forty days of seeing him, until, 

another ending at Bethany.

Precious, last words:

urgent reminders.

If they remembered nothing else 

of his mission,

of his message,

of the meaning of his life...

these last words were a litany,

a list:

‘this is why I came;

this is what you saw;

this is what you do next:

Go. 

Wait in Jerusalem.

Wait for my Spirit to fill you with courage,

to fill you with strength – 

to go tell my story to everyone.’

And then, mid-blessing,

lifting up his hands,

he was lifted up,

away from sight...

It was nothing, if not dramatic.

But instead of the fear and desolation they’d

experienced on that previous ending on a Friday,

this ending filled them with hope;

filled them with joy.

This was an end.

But it was also a beginning.

And if they were in any doubt,

white-robed men dispelled it –

told them to get on with it:

‘don’t just stand there, looking up, do something!’

And so they did.

They remembered his ‘to do’ list 

and went up to Jerusalem.

Knowing that, in this new beginning, 

they need not fear:

instead, they were filled with joy...

and, as they waited, 

in the beginning part of this new beginning,

they worshipped –

blessing God.

Beginning that transformation of what it was –

what it is

to be Christ’s body here on earth.

to be his eyes and ears,

arms and legs...

diverse and gifted and called to share his story:

a story of love,

of beginnings and endings 

and beginning again;

a story of presence,

of being with and alongside one another

in joy and sorrow and laughter and pain;

a story meant for everyone to hear –

whether friends, or neighbours, 

or those who we think of as enemies:

our version of Samaritans – 

and not the good variety.

A story to take, and to share, and to rejoice in –

wherever our own starting point, 

our own Jerusalem, may be.

In his ascension –

in that ending,

there was a beginning:

where followers began to take up the responsibility of what it meant 

to be Christ’s own for the world –

to go,

to be with those that he would seek out:

the vulnerable,

the least, the outcast, the poor, 

the hungry – in body and in soul.

In his ascension was a mandate:

to go and do as he did,

to actively be him,

to continue his work –

to continue his story...

a story that could only continue

in his ending

and our beginning –

a beginning marked by openness to change –

of new things;

a beginning marked by waiting 

for God’s Spirit to move; 

a beginning not undertaken alone – 

but within community, 

as his body – supporting and tending 

and caring for one another;

learning together of God’s love,

and being God’s love in the world...

'Because Jesus ascended 

and sits at the right hand of God,

a new world has broken into ours—

a world in which justice does come for the poor,

freedom comes for the prisoners,

and healing for the sick.

Because Jesus ascended 

and sits at the right hand of God,

a new community has been formed—

a community that loves 

and cares for all members,

a family that welcomes all 

who are abandoned and rejected,

a place where all find a place of belonging.

Because Jesus ascended 

and sits at the right hand of God,

a new creation has begun— 

all that was distorted is being restored,

all that is corrupted is being renewed,

all that was broken is being made whole.

...Because Jesus ascended 

and sits at the right hand of God,

God’s new world has begun...'  [2]

--------------------------------------

Is this the time

that we expected, as we lived,

ejected from home and country,

objected to by powers that see

not the humans here before

their violent arrival?

It is not for you to know, 

but yet to hope, sing on although

the songs stick in your throat, to

dream on, envisioning a shape

for the shadow dancing on the wall,

showing you the light.

Why stand you there, looking heavenward? 

In a cloud he left you, in a cloud

he comes again: the cloud is you.

'You will be my witnesses,' you heard

him say – crowd in around the story,

shout loud the invitation from the hills,

the time is now and always, see heaven

here, be heaven here on earth.  [3] 

Amen.

1/ poem by Andrew King

2/ Christine Sine

3/ [Sarah Agnew]

Countdown to the Fiddlers' Rally

The week has finally arrived, and we're very much looking forward
to what promises to be a great evening of toe-tapping entertainment.
If you've not yet got your ticket - get in touch with Janet!
See you there -

Upper Clyde  Parish Church present a fiddlers' rally with:

The Caledonian Fiddle Orchestra

We're delighted to welcome back the CFO, who'll be performing in:

Crawfordjohn Hall on Friday 6th May at 7.30pm  

Tickets £10 each. Contact Janet 01864 504265

A light supper is included in the cost of the ticket.
There'll also be a bar on the night.

For more information on the Orchestra please see callyfiddleorchestra.co.uk

Sermon, 1 May: Seeing God in all things

READINGS: Revelation 21:10, 22 - 22:5; 

John 14:23-29 

SERMON 

Let’s pray:

May the words of my mouth 

and the meditations of all our hearts, 

be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, 

our strength and our redeemer, Amen.

His name was Nicholas, 

a Frenchman born to peasant parents.

He was a humble man:

humble both in position in life, and in character.

He knew what it was to be poor:

so poor, that he joined the army 

in order to be guaranteed regular meals 

and a small stipend in order to live.

He had a great and deep spiritual awakening:

while serving, he saw, in the depths of winter, 

a barren tree, stripped of leaves and fruit – 

seemingly dead, yet waiting patiently

for the sure hope of spring 

and of summer abundance.

He grasped, in that moment, 

a sense of God’s extravagant grace...

understanding that, like the tree, 

he, too, was seemingly dead,

but that God had life waiting for him, 

and that the turning of the seasons 

of his own life would bring fullness.

He also saw war, and was injured in battle.

He was forced to retire from the army and eventually joined 

a religious order in Paris – the Carmelites –

where he spent most of his remaining life quietly, and cheerfully, 

working in the monastery kitchen scrubbing pots, peeling veg, 

running errands for his superiors.

There, in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning, 

he developed a simple way of life and work for God, observing that:

People ‘invent means and methods of coming at God’s love,

they learn rules and set up devices to remind them of that love,

and it seems like a world of trouble to bring oneself into the 

consciousness of God’s presence. 

Yet it might be so simple. 

Is it not quicker and easier just to do our common business 

wholly for the love of him?’

He was a man of grace, of patience, of love...

but it was his reputation as a man of deep and profound peace, 

and his simple and cheerful spirituality based upon the peace he’d found,

that drew people to him despite his lowly status.

He was sought out, in his kitchen,

by many who were hungry for a way to experience the peace that he had found.

He was courted by ordinary folk, 

and by those deemed ‘the great and the good’,

for the desire for peace is a powerful thing.

He shared with them his understanding of living life 

through the medium of God’s love.

In all things, love.

He particularly celebrated the little things, saying:

‘we can do little things for God;

I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for the love of him,

and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, 

I prostrate myself in worship before him,

who has given me grace to work;

afterwards, I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to 

pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God.’

He found, in that love of God, companionship:

he didn’t wash the dishes alone, nor scrub the pots...

God was there with him.

He said of this companionship:

‘I have abandoned all particular forms of devotion, 

all prayer techniques. My only prayer practice is attention. 

I carry on a habitual, silent, and secret conversation with God 

that fills me with overwhelming joy.’

This humble man could have died in complete obscurity

and would not have been disappointed if he had.

However, the profound peace of God that he experienced

guaranteed that even now, 402 years after his birth,

that his name is still known, particularly through a small book –

his religious name was Brother Lawrence,

and he wrote what became a spiritual classic 

treasured by both Catholic and Protestant alike:

‘The Practice of the Presence of God’

Some of you may have heard of it.

It’s a book that I stumbled upon very early in my Christian life –

I was about 19 when I first met Brother Lawrence, and discovered 

his kindly, gentle ways, 

his deep and profound peace, 

and, his great, shining love for God.

His book, his words, have been such a help to me in my own walk with God –

and I thoroughly recommend reading it, if you get the chance!

In our gospel passage today, 

we get a sense of practising the presence of God:

we’ve stepped back chronologically to just before Jesus’ arrest and execution.

It’s just after the Last Supper and of washing the disciples’ feet in an upper room.

These few chapters in John are known as ‘the farewell discourses’ –

basically, conversations had with his disciples before he was taken from them.

Immediately prior to this particular passage, Jesus talks of his leaving them,

but tells them that they will not be alone –

‘I will ask the Father, 

and he will give you another Counsellor 

to be with you for ever – the Spirit of truth....

I will not leave you as orphans’

In response to a question by Judas, Jesus talks of those who love him:

and here we get a sense of what our friend, Brother Lawrence, had understood...

for Jesus talks of companionship –

‘My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him’

companionship:

God making a home with the one who loves and is loved in return:

God, in vision to John on the isle of Patmos, sharing the outcome of all things;

God, in a monastery kitchen in Paris, 

side by side with Lawrence, talking companionably over the dishes...

and God, in the Abington Store, with us as we get our messages,

or with us as we call on a friend for a cuppa.

Down through the ages, and through to the end of all time...

God with us through the promised Spirit.

Companion, friend, and Creator of the universe.

God with us 

in the flesh and blood and bone of incarnation,

a lived life among his friends with many conversations 

along the stony roads of the Holy Land,

and in death and resurrection –

God with us, teaching us that he is near us,

or, as Brother Lawrence once said:

‘you need not cry out very loud; he is nearer to us than we think’

And, as God is with us, so Jesus talks of peace:

a peace given to those who follow him,

those who love God –

a peace unlike the world gives...

for there are always negotiations and conditions surrounding such peace,

and the fear that such hard-won peace may disappear, 

for the peace of the world is a fragile thing,

unlike the peace of God which survives even death itself.

The peace that Jesus talks of leaving 

is given by the one we know as Prince of Peace –

the peace given that will ultimately heal the nations, 

as described in our reading from Revelation. 

This is a peace that is both for now, and which lasts for all eternity.

A peace – a ‘shalom’ – which is all-encompassing,

a peace that is about the well-being of the whole person,

of communities,

of countries,

of the whole world.

A peace founded upon not being 

‘weary of doing little things for the love of God,

who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.’

Peace, however, doesn’t come easily:

it comes at the cost of the Cross and rises up in the joy of the Resurrection.

Peace is an attitude of heart and mind – a way of choosing how to live our lives.

Brother Lawrence talks of prayer as being

‘the pure loving gaze that finds God everywhere’.

In that sense, learning to see God in all things,

learning to practice the presence of God in our daily living 

as we work at daily loving God both in busyness and quiet,

with company, or in the companionship of God.

It is as we stop, occasionally, to look at the way the light is playing on the hills,

or in the interactions of the smaller members of our communities,

that we try to focus on God –

first, giving thanks,

but also, just seeing God in the everyday:

there’s a sacredness to soapsuds, Brother Lawrence might say.

Peace is found, as we are attentive to what is happening around us

as we pause to look for what God is doing in our world, 

reminding us that we are his, but that he is ours:

he has made his home among us.

There’s a saying:

‘Dance like nobody’s watching,

love like you've never been hurt,

sing like nobody’s listening,

live like it’s heaven on earth’

I did see a more cynical alternative the other day: 

‘dance like nobody’s watching – 

because they aren't, 

they’re all on their mobile phones’ 

But I wonder, if there might be another way of viewing the saying, 

of re-jigging it the Brother Lawrence, peace-filled way.

How about:

‘Dance like God is watching,

love like God has loved,

sing as if God is listening,

live like it’s heaven on earth’

Where do we find God?

Actually, right with us.

Where do we find peace?

As we practice the presence of God...

for he is our peace, that lasts forever.

How might we change the way we see this week,

so that we look for God

so that we see God in all things,

so that we live into the peace that he gives?

...  ...  ...

Let’s pray:

Dear God

enlighten what’s dark in us,

strengthen what’s weak in us,

mend what’s broken in us,

bind what’s bruised in us,

heal what’s sick in us,

and revive whatever peace and love has died in us, 

we pray, in Jesus’ name, amen.

Church singing group: N.B. change of week

 

Fiddlers' Rally reminder: 6th May, Crawfordjohn

It's not too late to get your tickets....
Upper Clyde  Parish Church present a fiddlers' rally with:

The Caledonian Fiddle Orchestra

We're delighted to welcome back the CFO, who'll be performing in:

Crawfordjohn Hall on Friday 6th May at 7.30pm  

Tickets £10 each. Contact Janet 01864 504265

A light supper is included in the cost of the ticket.
There'll also be a bar on the night.

For more information on the Orchestra please see callyfiddleorchestra.co.uk

Contacts, information, church notices

The minister will be on leave from: Mon 18 April - Wed 27 April. 

Pulpit and funeral cover: 

Sunday 24 April - we welcome back the Rev Rachel Dobie - formerly of Upper Tweeddale Parish.


Funeral cover will be provided by the Rev George Shand of the Tinto Parishes, who can be contacted on 01899 309400.

For any ongoing parish queries, please contact our Session Clerk Moira White
on 01659 74261
--------------------------------------------------

News, events, and general notices:

The Lunch Club will be held on Wednesday 27th, from 12.30 pm, in the Church hall. Join us for soup, a sweet, tea/ coffee, and a catch up with friends. The cost is £5. If you’ve not booked, please let Jenny Worthington know by Tuesday afternoon, for catering purposes.

Kirk Session is on Thursday 28th, 7pm in the Church Hall.

Singing group meets at 9.45 on Sunday 1 May, before worship - all are welcome to come along and have a wee practice of an easy to learn song for worship.

Creative crafters’ group: all are welcome to come along to stitch, sew, cut, glue, get creative, and have a good blether. We next meet on Tues 3 May, 7-9pm. Our current 'big project' in process is the creation of some long banners for the season of Advent. A potential 'side project' will be to knit woolly hats for sailors - which are much appreciated!

Church notices - volunteers: the minister is looking for volunteers who would read out the church notices before worship on Sunday mornings. Ideally, it would be great to have a team of 4-5 people, working on a rotational basis. Please let the Nikki know if you’d be willing to do this - and thanks for those who have already offered.

Lunch Club, April

Good food, good conversation: join us for our monthly Lunch Club...

 

Come along to our Fiddlers' Rally...!

Upper Clyde  Parish Church present a fiddlers' rally with:

The Caledonian Fiddle Orchestra

We're delighted to welcome back the CFO, who'll be performing in:

Crawfordjohn Hall on Friday 6th May at 7.30pm  

Tickets £10 each. Contact Janet 01864 504265

A light supper is included in the cost of the ticket.
There'll also be a bar on the night.

For more information on the Orchestra please see callyfiddleorchestra.co.uk

Contacts, information, church notices

The minister will be on leave from: Mon 18 April - Wed 27 April. 

Pulpit and funeral cover: 

Sunday 24 April - we welcome back the Rev Rachel Dobie - formerly of Upper Tweeddale Parish.


Funeral cover will be provided by the Rev George Shand of the Tinto Parishes, who can be contacted on 01899 309400.

For any ongoing parish queries, please contact our Session Clerk Moira White
on 01659 74261
--------------------------------------------------

News, events, and general notices:

Evening worship at 6.30, Sun. 24 April. We meet together in Wanlockhead Village Hall. See you there! Tea, coffee, juice, and edible refreshments after the service.

The Lunch Club will be held on Wednesday 27th, from 12.30 pm, in the Church hall. Join us for soup, a sweet, tea/ coffee, and a catch up with friends. The cost is £5. If you’ve not booked, please let Jenny Worthington know by Tuesday afternoon, for catering purposes.

Kirk Session is on Thursday 28th, 7pm in the Church Hall.

Singing group meets at 9.45 on Sunday 1 May, before worship - all are welcome to come along and have a wee practice of an easy to learn song for worship.

Creative crafters’ group: all are welcome to come along to stitch, sew, cut, glue, get creative, and have a good blether. We next meet on Tues 3 May, 7-9pm. Our current 'big project' in process is the creation of some long banners for the season of Advent. A potential 'side project' will be to knit woolly hats for sailors - which are much appreciated!

Church notices - volunteers: the minister is looking for volunteers who would read out the church notices before worship on Sunday mornings. Ideally, it would be great to have a team of 4-5 people, working on a rotational basis. Please let the Nikki know if you’d be willing to do this - and thanks for those who have already offered.

'When I leave the world behind' - Anna Syme, 1930-2016

A little later today, we'll be saying our farewells to Anna -
accordionist-extraordinaire, much-loved aunt, godmother, friend
and beloved child of God.
Found tucked away in her accordion case was a verse to the song
'When I leave the world behind' - which I'll be using
after the final part of Anna's leave-taking, at Leadhills Cemetery -
it's almost as if it were her way of saying goodbye to us:
I leave the sunshine to the flowers
I leave the springtime to the trees
And to the old folk I leave a memory
Of a baby upon their knees
I leave the nighttime to the dreamers
I leave the songbird to the blind
I leave the moon above to those in love
When I leave the world behind
When I leave the world behind

Rest well, Anna, you will be missed.

Fiddlers' Rally with the Caledonian Fiddle Orchestra

Upper Clyde  Parish Church present a fiddlers' rally with:

The Caledonian Fiddle Orchestra

We're delighted to welcome back the CFO, who'll be performing in:

Crawfordjohn Hall on Friday 6th May at 7.30pm  

Tickets £8 each. Contact Janet 01864 504265

A light supper is included in the cost of the ticket.
There'll also be a bar on the night.

For more information on the Orchestra please see callyfiddleorchestra.co.uk

Sermon, Sunday 10 April: 'Will you come and follow me?'

1st READING: Ps 30
2nd READING: Rev 5:11-14
3rd READING: John 21:1-19

SERMON ‘Will you come and follow me?’
Let us pray:
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts
be acceptable in your sight, O God our strength and our redeemer, amen.

Will you come and follow me 
if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don't know 
and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown? 
Will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown in you 
and you in me?

It was the adventure of a lifetime –
a bunch of folk,
a band of brothers and sisters
all disciples;
all following a most extraordinary man.
They wandered the countryside
wondered at miracles
and pondered the wise words of the Rabbi:
their teacher,
their friend.
They’d invested their time,
They’d given up their jobs,
They’d built up their hopes…
But all too soon
the exhilarating adventure had come to a horrifying end.
Fearlessness turned to fearfulness;
Hope turned to despair;
Joy turned to unutterable sorrow
as they watched the one they had loved
and followed ...die.

It was the adventure of a lifetime,
but it had cost Jesus his life
and it had broken their hearts
as well as their spirit.
It was not long after the Rabbi’s death
when strange things began to happen:
the women reported an empty grave;
And then, inexplicably, unexpectedly,
he had appeared amongst them –
passing into their midst in a house
whose doors had been locked.
He uttered words of peace and blessing.
He talked of the Holy Spirit.
He showed them the marks
on his hands and his side.
A week later, in the same house,
with the same locked doors,
he appeared again –
more words of peace,
and a conversation with Thomas.
Were they just imagining things
in the midst of their grief?
Was it possible that the adventure of a lifetime,
which seemed at an end, still had some life left in it?

Perhaps they didn't know what to think.
Or what to believe…
Which is entirely reasonable given
something impossible
Something unthinkable
might actually…
be …
possible
and might actually have happened.

It was the adventure of a lifetime –
they had followed their friend, the rabbi
and they had been left reeling
in the wake of what had happened.
And so, confused and numb,
emotionally and psychologically shattered,
they found comfort in the old, familiar patterns…
they did what they knew how to do…
they went fishing,
but, they found no fish.
And then, bathed in the purple-pink
of an early morning sky,
he appeared on the shore,
it was the third time he’d appeared since his death.
He told them where to find fish…
and in the finding of the fish,
they found him,
they found themselves,
they found again the call to follow…
to follow the rabbi who had overcome death
and who stood amongst them cooking fish –
because even the boldest adventurers
need to be fed and nourished for the journey.
He said ‘follow me’…
Will you leave yourself behind 
if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind 
and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare 
should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer 
in you and you in me?
He said ‘follow me’
And for the rest of their lives… they did.

But the adventure continues:
For we follow in the footsteps
of all those followers
who followed the resurrected Lord of life
down through the centuries.
All of us the imperfect saints of God –
who sometimes get it hideously wrong,
but who also, sometimes,
in those shining moments of Spirit-filled insight,
get it gloriously right as well.
We follow the one who,
as the writer of the book of Revelation states,
is more awesome than we can ever begin to fully comprehend
and who is worthy to receive power, honour, riches, wisdom, might...
the one who is so amazing and so utterly wonderful
that the only response that the multitudes in heaven can make
is to fall down and worship, and rejoice,
and sing songs of praise.

We follow the one who is clothed in majesty,
Who is seated on the throne of heaven…
And who,
in love for us,
left all of that and became one of us.
Who, through his earthly life, demonstrated love and compassion.
Who championed the oppressed and the marginalised,
the widow and the orphan and cried out against injustice…
who called us to follow him
asking…                                                                                          
Will you let the blinded see 
if I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free 
and never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean 
and do such as this unseen,
and admit to what I mean in you and you in me?

The adventure of a lifetime -
the adventure of our lifetime -
as followers of Jesus
involves great moments of joy
but also great moments of sorrow…
There’s a bit of a bizarre myth that sometimes accompanies being a Christian –
It goes like this:
‘Give your life to Jesus and you’ll have 
no more worries, no more problems’
It’s a bit of a ‘happy ever after’ fairytale version of what
living the Christian life is all about –
And it’s just that: a fairy-tale… the great ‘Christian myth’,
because more often than not,
following Jesus makes life a little more difficult:
following Jesus makes us rethink the way we live our lives as we negotiate
the various ethical twists and turns that crop up.

That’s the bad news, in one sense…
But the good news is:
When the difficult times come,
and they have,
and they will;
when we cry out in anguish
or scream in rage at what might be happening in our lives,
or in the lives of those we love,
or in the life of the world…
the one who lived among us, as one of us…
still   hears   us.
We are not alone.
And we are loved utterly.
We are given the tools and the strength
to keep going on this, our adventure of a lifetime -
to keep following the one who asks:
Will you love the "you" you hide 
if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside 
and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you've found 
to reshape the world around,
through my sight and touch and sound 
in you and you in me?

The adventure of a lifetime continues
and we are called to follow the one who reshapes us…
and who asks us to ‘reshape the world around’.
He has given us the model, the way to follow:
As he cried out against injustice
we are to raise our voices whenever and wherever we see injustice.
We are to be a voice for those made voiceless
from bullying systems of power that crush the vulnerable underfoot;
We are to stand with those who have been pushed to the side.
The work of following,
the work of proclaiming the gospel,
is to feed those who hunger in body and in spirit;
is to clothe the naked;
is to visit the prisoner –
those behind bars of a correctional institution…
And those who are behind the locked doors
of nursing homes imprisoned by failing memory.
It is to weep with those who weep
and rejoice with those who are joyful.

The call to follow is relational –
it is about compassion and caring and community.
It is a call of liberation –
a call to divest ourselves and our world
of all that dehumanises and degrades…
to rehumanise and reshape
the bent and bruised and broken ones
in the power of the Spirit,
in the power of resurrected love…
because we follow the one who was fully human,
fully alive,
and who has shown us new life,
new ways of being,
and who fills us with new hope:
the hope of resurrection here and now –
every morning when we wake to a new day,
and for all eternity.

As Jesus stood by the shore cooking fish
and calling the disciples to follow him…
He calls us still, to follow him
and as we respond,
as we follow like the disciples did,
we’ll discover that we are on the greatest adventure of all.
Let’s pray:
 Lord your summons echoes true 
when you but call our name.
Let us turn and follow you 
and never be the same.
In Your company we'll go 
where Your love and footsteps show.
Thus we'll move and live and grow 
in you and you in us.
AMEN.

Sunday preview: barbies on the beach...

John 21:1-19 -
Resurrection appearances continue, this time by
the Galilean Sea. The disciples have gone fishin'.
and Jesus invites them to a beach barbecue...

[possibly the perfect text for an Australian minister to preach...!!]

Join us as we continue with our resurrection stories:
UCPC in Abington, 10.30am.

Guild News - 'Going to pot': Stackyard, Moniave outing

The next Guild outing will be to The Stackyard at Moniave.

It all began with one pot...

Come along and enjoy the great exhibition of ceramic preserve pots that have been gathered and collected together by Gordon Stewart. 

From one pot, there are now over 3 000, with a huge range of styles and from different time periods. The collection includes:

Clarice Cliff, Susie Cooper, Noritake, Wemyss, Wedgewood, and Royal Doulton. Whether Oriental, floral, contemporary or abstract, there's something here for everyone.

Please note that there's been a change of date: 

we are now going on Thurs 9 June.  

You can sign up for this event on the list provided 

in the vestibule of the church 

Sermon, Sunday 3 April: 'Closed doors'

1st READING: Rev 1:4-8
2nd READING: John 20:19-31

SERMON
Let’s pray:
May the words of my mouth and the meditations
of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O
Lord, our strength and our Redeemer.     Amen.

I almost feel that I should have prayed:
‘For what I’m about to inflict upon you, may the Lord, and you, have mercy’...
and so we begin:
Knock Knock! 
Who’s there? 
Mikey. 
Mikey who? 
Mikey won’t fit in this door!

... oh, there’s more:
Knock knock!
who's there?
Luke
Luke who?
Luke through the peephole and find out! 

Knock knock!
who's there?
Mark
Mark who?
Mark my words, yuh better open this door

I promise – this is the last one:
Knock Knock! 
Who’s there? 
Eileen. 
Eileen who? 
Eileene’d on the door and broke it!

You’ll be glad to know that’s all I've got on the subject
of knock knock jokes about doors!

G.K. Chesterton once wrote:
“Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.
Never forget that the devil fell by force of gravity. 
He who has the faith, has the fun.”

The Sunday immediately following Easter Sunday is often referred to
as ‘Holy Humour Sunday’.
In 15th century Bavaria, churches would cheerfully celebrate this day,
with priests deliberately including stories and jokes in their sermons
to try and get their congregations to laugh.
[as opposed to groan at bad 'knock knock' jokes?!.]
The day had a special name: Risus Paschalis – ‘God’s Joke’, or, the ‘Easter laugh’.
After worship, the faithful were encouraged to gather and play jokes on one another
and tell funny stories. All this was a way of celebrating the resurrection of Jesus:
the ultimate joke played by God upon Satan, by raising Jesus from the dead.
Whether it’s known as Holy humour Sunday, Bright Sunday, or Laughter Sunday,
this is a tradition that’s still carried on in various congregations around the world:
Holy humour, holy laughter –
is the gift of being able to take ourselves lightly,
for we live in the promise of the resurrection...
and so, we need not fear.

So it’s interesting to me, as I read our gospel text today,
that on that first day of resurrection, there’s not a lot of laughter –
rather, there’s a whole lot of fear.
We meet the disciples in the shadow of night,
cowering in an upper room hiding behind locked doors.
The room is fairly reeking with fear.
In the early hours of that same day,
Mary had rushed in to see them –
first, brimming with horror at the thought that
the body of Jesus might have been stolen;
then, a little later, bursting into that same room excitedly
exclaiming that she had seen the Lord.
Two disciples had been dispatched, and had confirmed the tomb was empty...
What did it mean?
Had Mary’s grief driven her mad?
So many questions...

Morning passed into afternoon,
and then to evening,
and still they stayed in the room, paralysed with fear –
doors closed and firmly bolted...
They all stayed, that is, bar one:
Thomas had gone off somewhere.
We are never told where he’d gone,
or what he was doing...
But whatever he was doing, wherever he’d gone,
he was markedly absent from that locked room
when Jesus somehow managed to turn up in their midst,
and meet with the other disciples.
And now, they, like Mary, had seen their Lord.

Jesus knows his friends well:
the signs are clear that these followers of his
are living in fear for their lives.
His choice of words is important.
Speaking to them, the very first words are words of peace:
‘peace be with you.’
He proves his identity by showing them the marks of nails on hands,
the mark of spear in the side –
....while death has been defeated, there are changes;
the scars of that victory remain.
Again, he bids them ‘peace’ and gives them a job to do –
as the Father has sent Jesus, now Jesus sends them to go into the world –
to speak words of forgiveness and love...
or, to choose against that course of action.
And he breathes on them:
this breathing upon them, so reminds me of what happens
in Genesis – the Creation – where God breathes life
into dust moulded into human form
and brings human life into being.
In the upper room, it’s as if Jesus is breathing life
back into the deflated disciples once more –
restoring them by the power of the Spirit
and through the miracle of his resurrection.

Sometime after this encounter, Thomas comes back to the upper room
and knows something has changed:
fear seems to have dispersed,
joy lights up the dark corners of that place.
And Thomas can’t quite believe it – can’t believe the word of his friends
who say that they, like Mary, have seen the Lord.
...And then, a whole week passes.

I have a hunch, given the disciples’ sighting of Jesus,
and Thomas’ refusal to believe them, that it wasn’t an easy week –
more like downright awkward.
But here’s a thing:
the rest of the disciples had seen Jesus and he had talked
of sending them into the world...
and yet a week later, they’re still there, in that upper room,
still with the door firmly closed and bolted,
still just sitting there, holding on to this appearance of Jesus.
For all that they may have been overjoyed to see him in that encounter,
they’re not going anywhere.
Thomas, at least, has an excuse.

And back to that room, comes Jesus, and this time, Thomas is present.
Again, the first words uttered by Jesus are words of peace:
‘peace be with you’,
words gently pushing aside the fear that still seems
to be present within the disciples’ midst.
Turning straight to Thomas,
Jesus challenges him with the very words Thomas had himself used –
of seeing the marks of nails, of the spear...
of touching them.
‘Come and see, come and touch’ says Jesus,
‘stop doubting and believe’.
Inviting his questions...
And, unlike the other disciples,
there’s almost the sound of a key turning the lock of Thomas’ heart,
of his imagination,
and of the window of his soul being opened
so that he sees Jesus for who he is:
‘My Lord...  and my God.’
There’s no shocked sucking in of breath from the rest of them in the room...
Jesus doesn't chastise him for blasphemy.
Rather, the title is accepted, acknowledged.
The deep truth of Jesus’ identity is finally understood by the one
who down through the centuries has been called ‘the doubter’.
I’d suggest that perhaps Thomas is better called ‘Thomas the faithful’.

There’s a saying that the opposite of faith is not doubt;
rather, that the opposite of faith is certainty.
Thomas is an encouragement to us all:
he reminds us that, if we say that we believe in a supernatural being
who created the heavens and established the earth...
and, that if, in faith, we believe that this same One became human -
to better understand us,
to better build a relationship with us...
then, this same God, who we worship is big enough, compassionate enough,
to cope with our questions in the midst of all this divine mystery.
Questions don’t display a lack of faith:
rather, they demonstrate a faith that actively seeks to understand God –
a living, and engaged faith.
At this point, this side of heaven, we see in part, and don’t have all the answers.
In faith, we put one foot in front of the other, and keep going...
and part of our faith experience might very well be to ask questions –
and asking questions is a valid, healthy, and natural response
to the ‘Creator of the vast cosmos’ who ‘not only knows we exist 
but cares deeply and passionately about our ups and downs, 
our hopes and dreams, and all the rest.’ [David Lose]

We work through our faith in different ways:
for some, faith comes easy;
for others, it’s more difficult.
For those like Thomas, there’s a need for something more personal and direct.
There are many ways of living in faith.
But never be afraid of asking questions:
‘because questions and wonder and doubt and even scepticism 
are signs of interest and curiosity...and these, quite often, 
are the soil in which vibrant faith is born.’ [David Lose]

Thomas comes to faith, because he first has the chance to voice
his doubt and questions, and then experiences Jesus for himself.
Through his questions, his doubts, the door of his heart is opened...
he sees, understands,
his faith is taken to a whole deeper level,
and moves him, shapes his life,
in a way that he could never have predicted.

Sometimes, we’re afraid to ask questions of God:
we hide behind closed doors,
or try to build walls of doctrinal certainty.
Our gospel passage today reminds us that faith works in
many different ways, and that God is quite amenable
to his people asking questions – for questions help us to learn and grow.
So, may this faith community be a place
where questions
and wondering
and exploring
are welcome as we journey and grow together in our love and knowledge of God.
Like Thomas, may we open the doors of our hearts, souls, and imaginations
and allow the breath of the Spirit to banish our fears,
and shape our faith, and move our lives in ways that we might never have predicted:
For, that’s what happens when we worship the living God,
the God of resurrection surprise:
the God who has the last laugh on death.
Amen.