Yesterday the gospel reading was the whole of John 9, the story of the man born blind who is given sight by Jesus. Appropriately Amazing Grace was one of the hymns we sung:
"I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see".
But in my mind as we look at the world around us are these lines from this famous hymn:
"Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come:'tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home"
Our world is in turmoil, with war faraway in the Middle East, affecting costs of life here in NZ as the price of petrol zooms above $3 a litre. I see many dangers, toils and snares ahead for us as a nation and for the church within our nation: this increase, if sustained because the war does not end, or, worse, goes much higher, affects not only whether we use our cars or not, it will flow through to every aspect of costs of life. For our parishes, already stretched with costs of ministry, there are significant challenges ahead.
We must double down on praying for peace - first and foremost for the sake of the lives of others: those in Iran, Gaza, the West Bank [some very worrying reports of Christians being massacred there by the IDF in recent days], Ukraine, Sudan and South Sudan.
But John Newton also reminds us in the verse cited above, that "grace" - God's unlimited kindness, mercy and generosity - will lead us home.
We also must double down on being a people of faith, not of sight.
14 comments:
Thanks +Peter.
The faith/sight thing is interesting to think about.. both are so important! Thinking about sight in particular.. there's how we see the world "out there" and how we see ourselves. My line of thinking is prompted by a fascinating essay I read this morning discussing a song from Ireland in the 1990s called "Zombie". There's a line from the essay in the context of political polarisation and "moral battles" that reads, "Followers are encouraged to see themselves as defenders of a cause rather than participants in a shared society."
I think it's profoundly important when *seeing* "the world" we work hard at discerning truth from lies; and for ourselves, that we *see* ourselves as "participants in a shared society".
[My focus has been on "sight" but finding hope is so hard for a lot of people right now - and *our* hope is rooted in faith - so I'm not in any way diminishing the massive importance of faith!]
Link: https://www.pasturepolitics.com/p/zombie
One of my favourite parts of that story is Jesus spitting on the ground, making mud for the blind man's eyes. Echoes with Genesis, of making new creation out of dust, ring out. It's an interesting window into who Jesus is, who and what Christ and his ministry might be. It's a very sacramental action, we might say. Perhaps the church should offer anointing for healing with us and spittle? Though at times our liturgies and lives perhaps need a bit more of this earthy approach. I recently attended a (lovely) service in the country which began with the (small) congregation comparing their recent garden peach and pear crops.
Speaking of the blind being cured, I confess to now supporting the proposed Cathedral rebuild in the square, and even completed a submission to Council to this effect (there is still time!). There are a number of reasons for my change of mind - seeing and valuing the significance of continuity and history more than I once did (I'm getting old), of so much work already being done and money spent, of the diocesan decision being made and of wanting to stay unified in that, of the sad lack of old buildings in the city centre...
and - perhaps getting back to the flavour of this week's post -of having a Christian presence in the heart of the city, the world; yes (definitely) for continuity, witness, and whakapapa ("Christchurch"), yes (somewhat, maybe) for retaining a Christian influence on civic matters, yes (definitely) for a sacred "chapel" space amidst the bustling crowds and lonely streets, and yes (definitely) for maintaining a prophetic presence at the heart of the city, too - as a focus and arena for protest, lament, and pain (e.g. Palestine, Iran) as it once was.
Hi Mark, that's lovely to read.. and they're great reasons too!
"Through many dangers, toils and snares" - have you seen the (real) brushtail possum on a shelf with soft toys in a gift shop at Hobart Airport? The link has a short video clip!
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/mar/19/possum-hobart-airport-gift-shop-soft-toys
Isn't it awful that such cute, sensitive animals are pests here and we have to kill them in droves!
Elizabeth, I don't know if you've seen this yet, but this is the Anglican Archbishops' statement on the Iran war, which is extremely good:
https://www.anglicantaonga.org.nz/news/worldwide/abp_peace_iran
Excellent, Mark! Thanks and I'd not seen it.. I've now shared the link in a 'Note' on Substack. While at AnglicanTaonga I also noticed a link "Millions of Christians oppose Iran war" and it led to a joint ecumenical statement at the WCC site (dated 09 March but I hadn't previously read it). It looks a good robust statement; I'll have a better read of it later this evening.
WCC: https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/joint-ecumenical-statement-on-the-widening-conflict-in-the-middle-east
It’s great Elizabeth, especially:
“Having taken this path, Israel and the United States of America must not be permitted to once again create a desolation and call it peace. They must take responsibility for the consequences of their actions, including the consequences for the future of the people of Iran whose freedom they claim to promote….
In this conflict and in our wider global context, we lament the absence of morality and legality, the prevailing arrogance and ideologies of power, and the replacement of conscience with political utility. As Christians, we do not recognize any divine licence to kill, destroy, displace or occupy. We proclaim the God-given human dignity and rights of all people, equally and without discrimination. We reject the brutal logic of war and domination. We seek the gift of peace.”
For a fantastic background and discussion of the present Iranian conflict, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzlig7oCeJ8&t=2601s
Oh, great video Mark. The discussion covers a lot of ground! There's so much complexity, and yet Israel/US just barged in and attacked Iran.. it's horrifying at so many levels.
As another sidelight, I have been reading Mark this week and Ch 7 has Jesus touching a dumb man’s tongue with spittle and in Ch 8 he puts spittle on a blind man’s eyes. In both cases, healing occurred though the second one took an extra touch.
Interestingly, I heard the John account being read in a service years ago, with overtones of distaste at the use of spittle, which clearly neither Gospel writer was concerned about.
To Moya at 9:09: thanks for those other instances. I sort of remembered that Jesus uses spittle in Mark somewhere as well, so thanks. It's interesting what parts of the Gospel our preaching and sacramental traditions have focussed on or not focussed on. I've never heard a sermon on healing with spit. Was Jesus using/adapting a common form used by charismatic healers at the time? What is in our contemporary sense of revulsion? Parents, by the way, use spittle all the time - when needs must, on the edge of a handkerchief, to wipe toothpaste or food from our kids' faces. I think it's good to have children in services with us adults, as - speaking for my daughter at least - they're a useful spiritual counterweight to too much formality and distance. I just so loved Pope Francis' constant use of the word "close", "closeness": God is close to us, let us be close to each other, let pastors be close to their flock; "be shepherds with the smell of the sheep". That is so important and also takes great sensitivity, discernment and skill - to attune to the other's space as to be close without being intrusive, overwhelming, and potentially traumatizing or retraumatizing. It also asks us to keep working on our wounds around closeness, including what keeps us from closeness with God. There's many sermons in this image!
Yes, that YouTube interview was very enlightening, thank you. It gave many different perspectives and possibilities, most of them not very hopeful, sadly. But ‘nothing is impossible with God’, said Jesus.
Thanks so much, +Peter, for the eLife link to Dr Chris Marshall’s ‘Waging Peace in a World of Violence’. I really appreciated what he said so clearly about non-violent action and Jesus’ life and teaching.
My father was a CO in London in WW2 because he held to the pacifist stance and received some flak as a coward.
Dear Moya,
You have submitted a comment which refers to ++Sarah Mullaly but I think you are referring to ++Cherry Vann so I am deleting your comment as publishing it might lead to people mistaking one life story for another.
best,
Peter.
Post a Comment