Photo credit jenosaur on Flickr

The Kelvindale House group had its first meeting of the new session last night.  The way had been prepared by a prior meeting at the home of Matt and Elaine the previous week where we had discussed the way we would go this session.

We began by asking for God’s blessing on our meeting and then listened to a Piano Reflection, music on the CD made by Alan Foggin.  This proved a very helpful introduction.

Next we decided to pray for the members of the church.  We did this by each of us taking a page from the church directory, and after reading out each name in turn we silently prayed for each person.

Following this, several of us took the opportunity to bring a reading, a poem or story which we thought would be helpful to all.  This was good for us.

Looking forward to our next few weeks we had the opportunity to set out our plans for the four-part study in Jonah.  For this we are indebted to the imaginative thinking and generosity of the Southside group who pioneered the study and donated the materials to our house group.

We looked further to the needs of the wider world and we had a prayer time which was based on the excellent book, “Operation World”.  We did this by using W O R L D, using its  five letters as the opening initials of the countries we would pray for.  Thus we prayed for Wallis and Fortuna(where?), Oman, Romania, Libya and Djibouti.  We think we will use this idea again in our coming meetings.

Our final item was a song taken from Morag’s iPod.  Michael Smith sang “Lord, I will lift my eyes to the hills” which seemed a good way to end before the benediction.

Next week we will meet at Ann’s home so come and join us. Talk to me or anyone from the group if you need directions.

There is so much that can be written about Maundy Thursday. The Last Supper, Jesus talking with His disciples, the betrayal and arrest. The whole Maundy Thursday story is one that deserves and repays close, meditative reading. Reading the text slowly transports you and allows you to look in on that time and imagine the smells, the looks on people’s faces, the noise coming from Jerusalem as the Passover feast begins. It would have been quite a place to be. Try and do that, or watch one of the many movies that has these scenes and see it how it has been done and let fire your imagination and wonder.

I mentioned Jesus Christ Superstar yesterday. I remember when I saw this musical for the first time. The Last Supper is the opening number of the second act and it is followed by Jesus singing a solo in the Garden of Gesthemane. I’ve seen the Passion of the Christ, The Greatest Story Ever Told and others but I think in Jesus Christ Superstar the composer of the  music, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and particularly the lyricist, Tim Rice, captured the scene in a most remarkable way. It can’t replace careful meditation on the Gospel text, nothing can or should but if you get the chance have a listen to what is said in Jesus Christ Superstar.

I think it was so remarkable because there was an intentional decision to focus upon the humanity of Jesus. When I read the story in Mark’s Gospel of the Garden of Gesthemane I see a truly remarkable human being in pain and in suffering. I think Jesus showed amazing superhuman strength, maybe it was adrenaline, maybe it was His divinity, but He kept going, He was awake when all others were asleep and were struggling. So compounded with fatigue Jesus cries to the Father to let the cup pass Him by.  He pleaded, He prayed but He must have known Himself it would all be for nothing and that He would be faithful to His task.

Jesus knew He had to suffer for our sake, He knew the betrayer was approaching. Did He want Simon Peter and John to be awake so that He might be saved? What would a lesser man have done? Jesus didn’t shirk His responsibilities and give up on His mission. He knew that in the end it would come to this. Betrayed, arrested and tomorrow facing trial in the biggest miscarriage of justice ever recorded.

Ask yourself the question, what would you have done? Then be grateful and give thanks for what Jesus did today and think about what happens tomorrow.

Monday: Mark 11: 12-19

Monday was a busy day for Jesus. In the Mark narrative I sense frustration and even righteous anger as Jesus curses a tree and drove people out of the Temple. Perhaps this was release from the fact that yesterday the crowd cheered Him in in triumph but would turn on Him later in the week. Yesterday Jesus visited the Temple only to have a look around, once He slept on it He decided that something had to give.

When Jesus was running amok in the Temple what were the crowds thinking? Was this political revolution? Did they point Him towards the Roman Palaces? Did they feel He was overreacting? After all, money changing was a necessity not a luxury to buy sacrificial animals and to pay the Temple tax. But these people were dishonest with their ridiculous exchange rates and mark up in price, they provided a service but ripped everyone off. I feel on this Monday that Jesus went after false religion dressed up as piety. The fig tree is a symbol of a fruitless faith, the money-lenders a sign of dishonent religious practise.

The people were amazed but the religious authorities were angry, the teachers of the Law were angry. Was it their hypocrisy that Jesus was exposing? Was it too much for them at such a religious time? I think it was. But they did understand one thing that is true throughout time. He who controls the masses or the mob is he who wields power and authority. No wonder they wanted Him dead.

In a time when a Labour Government at Westminster taxes the poorest in a way that the better off become even better off Amos is much more than a clanging cymbal. Amos pulls no punches as he tells those in authority that God is unhappy and is coming after them, that the gravy train will come to an end. Lest we think that God is Communist in Amos he also has a lot to say about the apathy of the people towards their God and they’ll get theirs too. Overall, however, Amos is mightily concerned with social justice, the plight of the power and the powerless. Amos would remind us that those in authority only have that authority if their concern is to help those that need it. I wonder what Amos would say to Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling today? Probably something along the lines of ‘You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted vineyards, you will not drink their wine. For I know your offences and how great your sins’ Amos 5:11-12

Powerful, scary stuff I’m sure you’ll agree

Much of what he wrote is a disturbing reminder of how bad things can be in the city but he also highlighted the invaluable work that many voluntary societies have been doing, and continue to pioneer without a great deal of assistance from anyone else. It is their determination to do something to alleviate some of the problems that many of our fellow citizens face that has caught Smith’s eye and moved his heart.

On Wednesday night 30 January 2008 several hundred people from the Glasgow Baptist community met at Newton Mearns Baptist Church to pray, and pray specifically by name for those in government and councils who can help to make a difference to the troubled lives of many in the areas of deprivation in the city. It is so easy to become cynical and treat our politicians as our enemies rather than our servants. It could make a huge difference if we prayed more for them even as the Bible instructs us 1 Timothy2:1-2. Such praying is never wasted!

This summer, Christian Aid is asking people to walk the walk on climate change by joining the longest ever protest march in UK history.

The Cut the Carbon march started in Bangor, Northern Ireland yesterday (14 July), will last 80 days, cover 1,000 miles, and see marchers from rich countries and poor spread Christian Aid’s cut the carbon message to companies and politicians. The march ends at the London Stock Exchange on 2 October.

The march passes through Glasgow this Tuesday, 17 July, and there are a number of events planned, all in the Southside:

• 2-3pm, Newton Mearns Parish Church. Meet the marchers, listen to their stories.
• 5 pm onwards, Queen’s Park duck pond. Meet the marchers as they arrive at Queen’s Park. Join the marchers for a walk around Queen’s Park duck pond in the Glasgow “Put Your Best Foot Forward” event.
• 6pm Queen’s Park glass houses. Meet the marchers, listen to their stories.
• 10pm St Ninians Church, Glasgow. Reflection with the marchers.

Further information is on the Pressureworks site, and on the Cut the Carbon Facebook site (registration needed).

Update 21/07/2007: Read the BBC interview with Angela Rowe of Renfield St Stephens Church (just one block down Bath Street), who is one of the Cut the Carbon marchers.

Roderick Buchanan’s ‘Histrionics‘ exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art is a timely reminder that Glasgow’s social history is one tinged with unfortunate associations, which sadly some would want to keep alive.

I visited the exhibition representing the Baptist Union, a co-signatory to the joint statement from the major denominations in Glasgow “How they love one another”. This was a united attempt to demonstrate the Church’s regret in its participation in sectarianism and bigotry in the past with the determined effort that closer co-operation will eventually consign such bigotry to history.

As someone who currently teaches aspiring Baptist ministers on the topic of Sectarianism as part of their degree course at the University of Paisley I was happy to play such a small part in Thursday’s public display of commitment to eradicate sectarianism. The real challenge is of course to remove such attitudes from individual thinking and practice. Perhaps, in time to come…

That’s it. The election is over, the SNP are the largest party in the Scottish Parliament, and Labour have suffered their first nationwide electoral defeat for over 50 years.

All that we need to wait for now is the political horse-trading to take place. The two largest parties, SNP and Labour will try to negotiate a compromise with potential coalition partners, mainly the Liberal Democrats but maybe also the Conservatives and Greens. It is highly likely that this process will take weeks, but the parties have to elect a First Minister within 28 days otherwise there has to be another election!

Meantime, we can continue to pray for an effective, fair and representative government; we can also consider how we can best support, encourage and challenge our MSPs between now and the next election in four years time.

Confused over crosses or numbers? – BBC How to Vote Guide