St Barnabas Jericho: Recent Episodes
St Barnabas Jericho
“Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven” (Matthew 6. 1)
In this world of social media and e-communication, we often feel forced to announce what we are doing in order to reassure other people that we are doing it, or as it now seems to be, to avoid criticism for seemingly not doing something! For example, when I didn’t announce on twitter what I decided to give up or take up for Lent, someone said to me, are you bothering with Lent this year? It is all too easy to assume that just because someone doesn’t announce a sentiment, a prayer, a thought or an action, then they have simply forgotten it. This is a mistake. In fact, announcing something publicly often makes us feel as if we don’t actually need to do what we said we would do.
‘When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat”?’ (John 6. 5)
Jesus, having compassion on the great crowds of people that followed him, saw that they were hungry and he asked one of his followers if he had any thoughts as to a solution. Then one of Jesus’s other disciples saw that one of the children of the crowd had a small amount of bread and fish. Then Jesus blessed the bread and fish and there was sufficient food for the whole crowd. God has enough love and grace for everyone. For five thousand, or many more. This story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand tells of God's endless provision for his people, but crucially, we, like the young boy in the crowd, have our part to play in helping to share it.
“Never be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you be upon earth; therefore let your words be few” (Ecclesiastes 5. 2)
Some people find small talk difficult. There is an expectation that we have to fill silence with a discussion about the weather. There’s no harm in that. But neither is there any harm in being sparing with words. Sometimes a quiet and considered sentence is worth more than hundreds of words without proper thought. God does not need our small talk. God knows everything that we come to him with: and so we do well to meditate on this verse in the context of our prayer life: even just to sit in the house of the Lord in silence is prayer enough.
“Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of your possession? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in showing clemency.” (Micah 7. 18)
Clemency is a beautiful word but not one that we use very often. The hebrew word is "hesed”, which means mercy, kindness or lovingkindness. The idea of God not retaining anger, of God showing forgiveness, kindness and mercy is not a new or foreign concept to any of us. But it is often overlooked, forgotten or ignored, because we find it hard to forgive ourselves. We harbour grudges against each other, we judge each other harshly and we judge ourselves the most harshly of all. But these characteristics are not of God. Rather clemency emanates from the being of God.
‘Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?’ (1 Corinthians 1. 18-23)
It is as if these words were written yesterday. But they were written by St Paul in the early Christian era, around about 60 CE to the Church community in Corinth. We often look for and need guidance and direction from others. But often we only find confusion and contradiction. What are we to do? Later in the same chapter of this letter, we are encouraged to trust in the source of your life. And that is Jesus, who “became for us wisdom from God”. Perhaps in this era we need to trust that the true wisdom comes from God who dwells within?
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” (Isaiah 55. 1)
This is a positive rally call to trust that God promises a life of abundance and fulfilment if we trust in him. This is a metaphorical invitation to a life of spiritual richness and joy. If we spend time with this image, what does our imagination lead us to think of?
“In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him” (Mark 1. 25, 26)
Yesterday we saw Jesus thronged with crowds of people. Today we see Jesus taking time by himself, in a deserted place so that he could pray silently. This is not the only time we Jesus escaping the fray to be by himself. But even in the dark of the early morning, the disciples hunt for him until they find him! We can glimpse something of Jesus’s real humanity in verses like this.
“And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him…” (Mark 5. 24)
How often do we come across a verse like this that refers to Jesus’s own situation of vulnerability? Do we stop and reflect on how in demand Jesus was? Did it cause him anxiety or fear or anger, or did he simply take it all in his stride? The phrase “pressed in on him” is quite specific: it does suggest crowding, overcrowding, thronging, suffocating. Jesus was in high demand and it must have been exhausting. Do you ever feel overwhelmed and exhausted? He knows what it feels like.
Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgement on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. (Romans 2. 1)
It is very easy to judge others on their words or actions and to think that we can do better. It is one of the deepest characteristics of homo sapiens: is to cast aspersions on others and to exclude or to dismiss or deride others. What we are called to do, however, is to let Jesus be the judge, and instead for us to help other people live a better life, by coming alongside them in humility and understanding.
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. (John 14. 1)
These are the words of Jesus and how calming and comforting they are to a weary soul, to a heart which is in pain and a conscience which is smarting. These words are for us but they are also for us to share with others when they need our support. To believe is simply to allow your mind and heart to come together and for your mind to turn away from doubt and allow the warmth and light of love to come in.
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom” (James 3. 13)
It is hard sometimes to know who to trust. Equally it is hard to know the motivation of our hearts and the hearts of others. Do we or they speak and act from a place of true selflessness, or do we all want to gain something from our actions and words? It is important to remember that we are called to discern and listen to the voice of the wise in our communities and to learn from them, thus becoming gentle and wise like them. Whom do you know that is truly wise?
“But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us” (2 Corinthians 4. 7)
What is this treasure that we read of? And what are the clay jars? What image does this verse conjure up for you? The author of 2 Corinthians, St Paul, is referring to human vulnerability and God’s power. And the very humbling fact that God trusts us as humans to be his voices and his channels of love in this world, despite our fragility and weakness. The treasure is God’s grace, the clay jars are human life.
“When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them” (Isaiah 41. 17)
These are words of comfort and reassurance, meant to give hope to a disposessed and exiled people. But as we know, poverty and hunger can only be relieved by neighbourly effort, by human conviction and love. God gives the hope to those who despair, but gives the strength and resolve to others to help feed the hungry and clothe the poor. Many of us are therefore -crucially - God’s agents. How do we live out this calling?
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‘The king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, he said “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!"‘ (2 Samuel 18. 33)
This has to be one of the most tragic verses in the whole of the Hebrew Bible. David’s third son Absalom (literally meaning ‘father of peace’), dies at the hand of Joab, and King David is heartbroken. Absalom was of course far from perfect - he was vain and self-obsessed, but he was a human with attractive and not so attractive qualities. In these days of pandemic, we mourn the loss of so many people, each of whom were precious to someone else. They now rest in God’s arms.
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“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth…Then the Lord said to Noah, "‘Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation” (Genesis 6. 11 & 7. 1)
It is far from easy to read the first of these two verses without feeling utterly ashamed. There is of course some measure of truth in the statement about corruption and violence. What is experienced in humankind now, has always been a fact of life. Greed, corruption, violence. But the second of these verses bring to mind the hope that exists despite the dark side of existence. God recognizes the righteousness in each of us and the story of the covenant with Noah prefigures the deep sway of time towards restoration and perfection and away from negativity.
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‘Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?’ (Isaiah 40. 12)
Despite the precision of scientific measurements and the beauty of pure mathematics, the sheer magnitude of the universe and our place within it is quite hard to fathom. To consider ourselves as beloved of God within such an infinite universe should prevent us from becoming too arrogant. Perhaps such a verse should be offered to each world leader?
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‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me’ (Matthew 10. 40)
It is hard to interpret these words easily at the moment. How do we welcome others when we are not allowed to socialize, or see each other in any meaningful way? However we manage to work through these social limits for the sake of the common good at the moment, we will need to re-calibrate our approach to hospitality and openness, post-pandemic. This verse will help us prepare for that in the future.
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‘For even if we sin we are yours, knowing your power; but we will not sin, because we know that you acknowledge us as yours’ (Wisdom of Solomon 15. 2)
So often we keep making the same mistakes, over and over again. And we really do become very bitter with ourselves about it and we take it out on ourselves and others. But the truth of the matter is, even though we keep committing the same sins repeatedly, we still belong to God. He is merciful and forgiving. A few years ago during Pope Francis’s Jubilee Year of Mercy, a lovely image became associated with it. It shows Jesus holding the sinful human, like a lost sheep, rescuing us from harm. The human and Jesus share one eye. No explanation needed…
MERCIFUL LIKE THE FATHER
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“How lonely sits the city that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces has become a vassal.” (Lamentations 1. 1)
This past year has forced many of us to think and reflect about isolation and about how our streets have gone from extremes of silence to moments of blithe busy-ness. The reality of course is a constant fear of desertion, of collapse of livelihood and the desire for survival in what is to come. Sometimes all we can do is pray that relief will come soon
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“Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb be named me” (Isalah 49. 1)
So often at the moment we have to shout to be heard. We use social media to exclaim our opinion, and it is often misunderstood or un-nuanced. But the only thing that matters is that you know and everyone knows that you are precious to the Lord.
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Every weekday (Monday-Saturday) in Lent, I shall be posting a single verse of scripture followed by a very short thought relating the verse to the context of our lives at the moment. I have decided to do this for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, I find it personally hugely helpful to intensely reflect on a short portion of scripture, often a verse only, and consider deeply the meaning of that verse for me. This is of course a form of monastic sacred reading, lectio divina, where we ‘dwell’ with a phrase and ruminate on it for an extended period of time. Out of this period of reflection comes deep challenge, but also deep comfort. And so I thought I would offer it to others. It is of course dangerous to take only a verse or two of scripture out of context like this, but for the purposes of lectio divina, it can be a hugely transformative experience and in fact lead us to desire to know more of where that verse comes in the narrative of Holy Scripture and thus can lead to a deeper understanding of scripture for our faith.
Secondly, scripture has to compete with a lot of other words at the moment, and so a short snippet is likely to ‘stay rooted’ more easily than a lengthy passage.
Thirdly, this is part of my Lenten discipline: to offer to others some fruit of my own daily work.
My prayers and blessings for a transformative Lent
Fr Christopher
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