REFLECTIONS
These pieces are written each month by members of our clergy team.
April Leader
Within the first few days of April we find ourselves being reminded of our Lord's Passion - his death and resurrection. Then for the rest of April it's a chance within the Church’s calendar to keep the celebration of Easter. However, I'm getting ahead of myself. So on the 2nd of April we have Maundy Thursday: the last supper or meal Jesus has, gathering with this disciples to break bread and to take the cup. Before that meal, Jesus had washed his followers feet and encouraged them to do the same for each other as a true sign of servanthood. Jesus then gave them a commandment to love one another to make that service and love the basis of their discipleship. He provides the good example they need, so looking out for each other through the washing of their feet; having meals together and then sustaining that relationship with a deep love they should have for each other. All of those things would be really significant in the salvation of the world if Jesus had stopped there because that's what we need - a commitment to serve others, a desire to meet in a social context to value each other's company and then to make sure that that relationship is deeply rooted in love. Imagine a world where that was the model for living.Yet it isn't enough and so the next day we have Good Friday when Jesus died on the cross, making a sacrifice for the salvation of the world and for Christians it's a sign of God's love. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” [John 3:16] Musically made famous by John Stainer’s Crucifixion in 1887. It might seem an old thing to say but that kind of self-sacrifice is hugely important when it comes to God's only son - he gives up his life and because of that event death itself is no longer the thing that people should fear because just a few days later, Christ is risen from the dead. The empty tomb is a sign of God's power through Christ and thus within a few days at the beginning of April the Church will have celebrated a lifestyle pattern of how to be one with another; then the sign of God’s eternal love on Good Friday and then the conquering of that which separates us from God's love with the resurrection of Jesus.
We have lived with that good news for two thousand years and so we celebrate, knowing that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore we can celebrate in all sorts of ways. I shall enjoy the odd Easter egg and having a glass of prosecco or champagne with the lunch, but we need to remember the things that actually last and will make a difference to our lifestyle and it's not just about being cheered up but it's about recognising God’s love reaching every one of us and how that can be a wonderful transformation. It is with some confidence I say to all of you reading this article - Happy Easter!
Paul
Dear Lord, we thank you for our blessings and ask that you may strengthen us to live a life full of hope with a common care for others and a deep desire to serve those we meet in the knowledge of your generous love, through Christ who died and rose again. Alleluia. Amen.
Reflection:
By the time that you are reading this Bulletin we should be moving towards Holy Week, that most solemn week when the Church recounts the events leading to Jesus’s Crucifixion, which is commemorated on Good Friday. On Holy Saturday the Church waits in quiet anticipation of Jesus’s Resurrection on Easter Day. These events are both historical, in the sense that they happened at a particular point in history. As the Apostles' Creed states, ‘Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate.’ Pilate was the fifth governor of the Roman Province of Judea serving under the Emperor Tiberius from AD 26/7 to 36/37. It is understood that Jesus was about 33 when he was executed and his death is recorded in all four Gospels with good degrees of detail and commonality.
However, Jesus's death is always more than just a historical event, on par with, for instance, the Great Fire of London or the Battle of Trafalgar. The death of Jesus and its significance stretches backwards and forwards across time to reach into the hearts and minds of all humans including you and me. In the Holy Communion service the congregation are invited to repeat the following:
‘Lamb of God that takest away the sin of the world have mercy upon us.’
The first part of this verse comes from John the Baptist’s exclamation when he spotted Jesus walking along by the River Jordon. In John’s day, animal sacrifices were commonplace both in Roman, Greek and Jewish religions. The idea was that the sacrificial death of a chosen animal would placate an angry God or gods for the misdoings of communities and individuals. The problem was that these sacrifices had to be repeated every week because of the nature of human behaviour. Jesus certainly saw his death as a once for all sacrifice that would take away sin for all time.
Through this sacrifice humans would for the first time be genuinely at peace with God and reconciled to God through the shedding of Christ blood. As it says in St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:
‘Now we in Christ Jesus who were once very far have been brought near to God by the shedding of His blood.’
Of course, it is true to say that these concepts of sacrifice and death seem somewhat gruesome by today's sentiments and to think of Christ dying in agony on the cross is not something that we would readily want to think about. Yet no matter how modern life becomes we still have to struggle with the issues of the wrong inside us and the consequences of the choices and decisions that we make. None of us are ever free from guilt, sorrow and regret. The question is, do we have to carry this stuff to the grave, do we have to die guilty and afraid, or can we trust in the saving power of Christ's sacrifice to forgive us for all that is past and to allow us to stand with confidence on judgement day? Can we go on sinning knowing that the Lord will forgive us anyway? No, for there is nothing cheap about grace, our forgiveness was wrought through the utmost pain and sacrifice and just as a woman brings new life to birth through the agony of child birth, so we are brought to new life through Christ's agony and death. I don’t know how the Cross works, it is a mystery, but we all know from our lived experience the inextricable link between love and sacrifice. It was not through vindictive pleasure that God’s Son was offered on the Cross, but through love, a love that is and has always been powerful enough to transform even the most corrupt and evil heart. As St. John wrote:
‘God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that all those who believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ John 3:16
So next time you see a cross, or wear a cross, or hold a cross, remind yourself that God loves you and has forgiven you through Jesus Christ's death. Through Jesus, God is close to you in all your sorrows and sufferings, for our Lord is no stranger to the things that cause us pain, especially the point of our death, when we know he will be with us.
We don’t get to sing hymns so much at funerals anymore, but in former times it was not uncommon to sing a strange old hymn called the Old rugged Cross. It can be a bit of a slog to get all the way through it but a couple of lines have always stood out for me and I will leave them with you.
So I will cherish the Old Rugged Cross Till my trophies at last I lay down. I will cherish the old rugged Cross And exchange it some day for a crown.
MatthewABOUT ST. GILES CHURCH
Monthly Bulletins
It has now been 5 years since we started sending out our monthly Bulletin as a result of the Covid pandemic and I know from various feedback that the Bulletin is very much appreciated. Going forward I remain very committed to making sure that all of us who love St. Giles are kept informed not only of what is going on at our Church but encouraged in the understanding and practice of the Christian faith.In the future we will continue to write to you but every other month making sure that our bulletins coincide with the important occasions in the Church's year. Our next Bulletin will be sent out in July.
Matthew Hughes, May 2025