John Davies - Notes From a Small Vicar

There is a flame moving through the nation

There is a flame moving through the nation, bringing joy and inspiration to those who witness its power.

There is a flame moving through the nation, passing its light from one person to another. 

There is a flame moving through the nation, bringing people together in celebration and purpose, uniting people of different races, backgrounds, languages and creeds.

It is a flame of vision - for those who bear it, see themselves in a new light.

It is a flame of dreams - for those who witness its effects, begin to imagine new possibilities for the world.

The flame passes from old to young, from man to boy, from woman to girl. It is carried by sleek athletes and those with frailer bodies. By those who run and those who walk. 

The flame illuminates those whose acts of love and devotion to their community are recognised by others.

The flame sparks up for those who attempt good things.

The flame lights up the lives of those who embrace its loving, liberating power.

The flame is on a journey through the nation.

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The flame ... is the flame of God’s Holy Spirit ...

 

From There is a flame moving through the nation - my Pentecost talk today.

 

On seeking God's protection

I will kindle my fire this morning 

In presence of the holy angels of heaven, 

Without malice, without jealousy, without envy, 

Without fear, without terror of any one under the sun, 

But the Holy Son of God to shield me. 

Without malice, without jealousy, without envy, 

Without fear, without terror of any one under the sun 

But the Holy Son of God to shield me. 

- an old Celtic prayer The Blessing of the Kindling, which closed my talk on seeking God's protection, which also embraced a discussion of Colgate Toothpaste for Complete Dental Protection, Lifebuoy soap, various shampoos, and Cif Power Cream.

All aboard!

The little boat of God’s salvation seems like an eccentric craft on which to negotiate a world which is still wrapped up in trouble. But as Noah, his family, and all the blessed creatures of the earth discovered, it is the only craft which is fit for purpose. It is the jolliest, loveliest, most sensible and safest boat of all. Get on board!

- from my talk, All aboard! at our farmyard Rogation Sunday service today, featuring these Noah and animal puppets onstage, and a congregation including dogs and a pony. [Pic: Paul Kemeny]

Philip and the Ethiopian and the bible exploding in our hands

Gil Bailie says that ‘Philip's insights caused the text from Isaiah to explode in the Ethiopian's [hands].’ When we appreciate the implications of this little story then we might find the Bible exploding in our hands, in much same the way. We know that since that meeting on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, Christians have read Isaiah’s servant songs as forerunners of the story of the Crucified One.

How can you get from a story of mob violence to the good news of Jesus in one move? It’s an important question for us as we seek to share the good news of Jesus with others - in a violent world.

The Ethiopian eunuch must have felt the tension in the suffering servant story. On the one hand he would have sensed the innocence of the victim and the wrongness of his persecutors, but on the other hand he would have seen how the torment of the victim brought restoration to the community. On the one hand Isaiah writes, ‘He was despised and rejected by others’, and on the other hand the prophet says, ‘He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole.’ 

In reading the story of the suffering servant this way the Ethiopian eunuch might have been a contemporary man, opening his newspaper to find stories of righteous crowds making common cause by uniting against culprits or adversaries which have been chosen more or less at random. Rioters smashing the shops of neighbours, for instance; punishing the shopkeepers to gain a sense of satisfaction and wholeness for themselves. There is clearly a wrongness in such actions. But for those involved there is a strong sense that their actions put things right.

Violence heals - it is a common myth, the commonest myth in a violent world, even though it is usually hidden from us. It equally applies to nations ‘putting things right’ by dealing violence on others. Since the bombing of the civilians of Dresden and the wholesale destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, questions about the myth of redemptive violence and its hold on us have risen to the surface and simmered. Might these questions lead us to a revelation of the good news of Jesus Christ? 

Reading the story of the suffering servant the Ethiopian eunuch had his eyes opened to the myth of redemptive violence; even as he simultaneously saw the injustice in it. That was the beginning of the opening up of the gospel to him.

- from today's talk, Acts 8 - Turning slaughter to salvation, very much influenced by Gil Bailie's Violence Unveiled, Humanity at the Crossroads.