I have moved

I have moved my blog to http://garethhill.posterous.com so please come and join me there.

Two 90-second sermons

Here are two 90-second sermons, recorded for the Cornwall District Biblefresh Festival.

New hymn for Royal Cornwall Show

This week is the Royal Cornwall Show – the week when a curious mix of the Duchy’s farmers, elite and everyone else flock to the showground for three days celebrating the county.

It is a fantastic event. If you like huntin’, shootin’ and fishin’ – which I don’t – then you can buy all the stuff you need. If you are a very rich farmer you can buy the latest £80,000 baler or tractor. If you are a struggling arable farmer you have a chance to compare this year’s disastrous harvest with the people you’ve known all your working life – and those who have given up.

If you have no interest in agriculture but love flowers and woodcraft and horses and trades stands then it’s also the place to be.

It is, quite simply, the place where Cornwall gets together for three days. And right at the heart of all that is good are Christians: farming, winning prizes and sharing good news.

The team of show chaplains work out of a Churches Together marqueee which serves thousands of cups of tea and coffee during the week. This year there will be a Biblefresh theme in the marquee, including regular dramas on Bible themes.

Also, on the night before the show, there’s a service in the main parade ring which is publicised by the the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association as well as the churches around the county. Church leaders help to lead the service and to commission the team of chaplains.

This year I was asked to write a new hymn for the event. Here’s a sneak preview. If you know the tunes to Who is on the Lord’s side (they are called Armageddon and Rachie) then you can hum it to yourself – if you dare!

Heaven’s heart is pulsing to Creation’s hymn:

as the Father speaks, the new world starts to sing.

Light and love are radiant - everything is good.

All the world is ringing with the song of God.

 

Say among the nations, ‘let the earth rejoice,

for the Lord is worthy of our highest praise’.

 

Golden on the hillside, shines the evening light.

All of heaven’s palette shades the infinite.

Every life is marked as God’s own work of art:

won, through cross and suffering; saved and set apart.

 

Say among the nations, ‘let the earth rejoice,

for the Lord is worthy of our highest praise’.

 

Now Salvation’s rhythm moves our feet and hands:

‘do the works of justice’ is the Grace command.

Make us more than singers in redemption’s choir,

so the lives around us see our hearts on fire.

 

Say among the nations, ‘let the earth rejoice,

for the Lord is worthy of our highest praise’.

 

Copyright © 2011 Gareth Hill Publishing/Song Solutions CopyCare, 14 Horsted Square, Uckfield, TN22 1QG www.songsolutions.org

Biblefresh Festival – this weekend in Truro

Puppets, painting, an organized ‘mess’ and a balloon race are different way we aim to get people looking at the Bible at a festival on Saturday.

All told, it will be a nine-hour event, part of a year of celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of the Bible being made available to people in a language they could understand.

The Biblefresh Festival will be based at Truro Methodist Church, although much of it will be outside if the weather is good.

By the end of the day we pretty much guarantee that everyone will have found a way of discovering the Bible through something that makes sense to them. We’ve got a Gospel choir, a prayer labyrinth, a balloon race, barbecue – even the opportunity for people to do some serious thinking if they want to.

It’s linked to the nationwide Biblefresh campaign which marks 400 years since the Authorised Version, also known as the King James Version, was published.

Of course, now there are dozens of different version, even one called Word on the Street (it was the Street Bible) in very contemporary English.

The Truro event is for the whole of Cornwall and is being staged by the Cornwall Methodist District.

Among the activities is “Messy Biblefresh”, a version of Messy Church which is a remarkable success around the world. It is a form of church which involves families exploring creativity, worship and eating together.

So the whole festival gets under way at 10am on Saturday and ends with a fast-moving magazine celebration Fresh, from 5pm, featuring the White River Gospel Choir from the St Austell area.

I’d better get planning my 90-second sermon, hadn’t I?

Robert Fisk on America’s “mistake”

Columnist Robert Fisk has the knack of making a significant point in few words. In today’s Independent he does just that in a commentary on the death of Osama Bin Laden. You can find the story here.

Why is Jesus so difficult?

Jesus is so difficult to follow. The problem with him is that just when you want him to conveniently approve of something you do he says just the opposite.

So just as America – “one nation under God” – celebrates the death of Osama Bin Laden the words of Jesus, uttered on a middle-Eastern hillside and recorded in Luke’s Gospel in the Bible come back to haunt them.

²⁷ But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

    ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-treat you.

    ²⁹ If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.

    ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.

    ³¹ Do to others as you would have them do to you.

    ³² If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them.

    ³³ And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that.

    ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners’, expecting to be repaid in full.

    ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

    ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

That’s just not in the US rhetoric now, at least not in the public rhetoric.

“Rot in hell,” says the he

adline.

“It’s a good day for America,” says President Obama.

“Obama 1, Osama 0,” said one banner.

But Jesus won’t let it go; the Bible won’t let it go. As Brian McLaren says on his blog: ‘Joyfully celebrating the killing of a killer who joyfully celebrated killing carries an irony that I hope will not be lost on us. Are we learning anything, or simply spinning harder in the cycle of violence?’

I remember reading Barack Obama’s first book with a rising sense of hope that here was a leader who would be different; who would be a man of moral purpose. Now as I hear him utter the same things previous world leaders have said – including past and present British Prime Ministers – my heart sinks.

Where is the change I hoped for, and would have voted for if I was American?

And then a little voice whispers in my ear as I sit comfortably in a British coffee shop – well, ironically an American coffee shop in Britain! ‘Do you remember what the church in Corinth was told?’

1 Corinthians 10

Warnings From Israel’s History

 ¹ For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.

    ² They were all baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

    ³ They all ate the same spiritual food

    ⁴ and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

    ⁵ Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.

    ⁶ Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.

    ⁷ Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.

    ⁸ We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did— and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.

    ⁹ We should not test the Lord, as some of them did— and were killed by snakes.

    ¹⁰ And do not grumble, as some of them did— and were killed by the destroying angel.

    ¹¹ These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfilment of the ages has come.

    ¹² So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

It can be so easy to point the finger from the comfort of my coffee. I am still uneasy – more than uneasy, I am deeply disturbed by the kind of triumphal scenes being paraded at the death of Bin Laden.

I also know, however, that it’s too easy to point a finger and claim to be prophetic and at the same time be on the brink of an equally-catastrophic failure of my own. I may not have ordered anyone’s killing but I don’t have the weight of the Western world on my shoulders each day.

It is the duty of every follower of Christ to speak out against injustice and to remind the world that the crucified carpenter would not let violence be the answer. But we also have to guard our own hearts. As someone used to remind me – every time we point our finger at someone, three others point back at ourselves.

Locust and Wild Honey Ices – a drama

Here’s a slightly off-the-wall take on Jesus’ baptism.

Seller      Ice creams! Get your ices here! …….. Ices! Freshly made this morning ……

Reuben  walks past looking puzzled

Seller    … ices! Nice refreshing ices. Latest from Benjamin and Jeremiah’s ….. Locust and Wild Honey flavor. All the rage! Prophet special!! Get your ices here!

Reuben    Oi, you, what are you doing?

Seller    What d’you mean? I’m selling ice creams. Earning an honest shekel.

Reuben    But they haven’t even been invented yet.

Seller    Well, that Benjamin and Jeremiahs for you – always ahead of the game … get your Locust and Wild Honey ices here. Prophet special!!!

Reuben    cowering back Don’t do that!

Seller    What?

Reuben    Shout in my ear

Seller    Well, don’t stand so close to me. Hey, that sounds like a good title for a song … (begins humming) … “don’t stand so, don’t stand so …”

Reuben    What are you doing now?!?

Seller    Sorry, just got transported for a minute.

Reuben    What a good idea! Look, where did you get this “prophet special” business from and who on earth is going to eat locusts and wild honey?

Seller    Everyone! They’re going like … well, like hot unleavened bread.

Reuben    Locusts?!! … and wild honey?!!!? That’s just gross.

Seller    No, it’s all the rage since that John bloke came out of the wilderness. Have you seen him. I mean he looks a bit weird with his animal skins and leather but he doesn’t half draw a crowd and, as my old mother used to say, where there’s people there’s profit. So ices it is!

Reuben    But I don’t get the flavour.

Seller    That’s all he eats. Just locusts and wild honey. I did think of drizzling a bit of red wine over them but apparently John doesn’t drink. Never has, so that put the mockers on it. Never mind, got another idea now.

Reuben    What?

Seller    Well, see that crowd down there by the River Jordan? Apparently, his cousin’s shown up. Jesus, from Nazareth, and there’s a really big deal going on about John baptising him. I couldn’t hear everything but they were talking for ages.

So anyway, I thought I might produce a “cousin cornet” – two different flavours. I’m working on “Jordan honey” and “Nazareth Nougat” – what do you think?

Reuben    I really don’t know. I’ve never tried nougat. Actually I’ve never tried ice cream either and I think John’s being quite serious down there. He might get a bit upset at you trying to hi-jack what he’s doing with all these gimmicks.

Seller    Gimmicks! Gimmicks!!! They’re just good old fashioned trading princi…………. eh, look, did you see that?

Reuben    Yes, that’s amazing! It was a dove, wasn’t it?

Seller    I think so. Landed right on his head.

Reuben    Did you hear the voice?

Seller    Voice? What voice? I think you’ver started to hear things. It must be the heat. You need one of my ice creams.

Reuben    No, be serious. There was a voice. I swear it came from heaven. “This is my beloved son. With him I am well pleased,” it said. “Listen to him.”

Seller    Never mind about any voice. I’ve had another idea. With my “cousin cornet” I could sprinkle raisins on the top, couldn’t I? It would be just like dove droppings! Ices!! Get your ices here! Latest from Benjamin and Jeremiahs, locust and wild honey. Exclusive prophet special!!

Reuben    Turns away in disgust.

The Desolate Messiah

Many of you who read this occasional blog know that I write hymns. This hymn begins on Good Friday with the crucifixion but takes a journey that ends on Easter Day. It is partly built on a line from Gerard Kelly about Jesus choosing to be ‘weak in power’ as he faced the cross. There is an original tune which you can find here.

The desolate Messiah dies

spreadeagled on the cross:

unwanted by the earth he made,

Death’s trophy to the world displayed

and, as the final scene is played,

all hope is lost.

 

The disregarded Christ hangs high

as nations turn away.

How can a king be weak in power

and leave earth in its crisis hour?

And how will liberation flower

or Death give way?

 

Yet silently, as morning breaks,

the risen Lord is found.

A battle fought beyond the grave

has ended with a shout: ‘He saves!’

and Life walks from a borrowed cave,

now holy ground.

 

Beneath the shadow of his cross

the Church of Christ must stand,

and hold a holy mystery:

that death means life at Calvary

and grace has won the victory

for all the world.

 

Copyright © Gareth Hill Publishing/Song Solutions CopyCare, 14 Horsted Square, Uckfield, TN22 1QG www.songsolutions.org

Well said, Gerard

Not an entry from me today but a link to a really perceptive piece from Gerard Kelly. It’s called “Is Enough Enough” and you can find it on his blog Prismatics at http://gerardkelly.tumblr.com/post/2713052673

Fractured innocence and our prayers

It’s difficult to comprehend what life must be like when everything you’ve ever owned is swept from under you. Exactly one year on from the devastation of Haiti we are watching them suffer again and we see the people of Australia look on impotently as their homes disappear under torrents of water.

The question of how we respond – and how we pray – is crucial for us as Christians. We can’t all go to disaster areas and we can’t all give to every appeal that comes onto our TV screens. So what do we do – what should we do? How should we pray? We’ve read more than once that we should pray with faith and in confidence, but what does that mean when we are praying for whole countries? How do you offer a meaningful prayer for Haiti which has been, quite frankly, a basket case for years?

We know – and God knows – that it will take political change and the change in politicians’ hearts and minds for significant improvement to come for so many people there. It will take the international community to work with those politicians and to “encourage” them to own up to their responsibilities. We can pray for that.

We can pray for hard hearts to melt. We can pray for barriers to food distribution to be broken down. We can pray for corruption to end. We can pray for aid workers to be safe and to be able to do their work.

And, above all, we can declare that we believe in a God who wants the best for all his creation. We can make it clear that we do not believe in a God who punishes by bringing flood, disease and malnutrition. If our God sent Jesus to free this world from death through his own death on the cross, then the last thing he would do is to deliberately choose to keep flinging death back in our faces as a punishment. The God who walks through the valley of the shadow with us eventually walks out of the darkness alongside us.

That’s why I wrote the following hymn, originally after the 2005 Boxing Day tsunami. You can sing it to the tune of “The Church’s one foundation” – usually called Aurelia.

When innocence is fractured

by nature’s shifting force,

and paradise is ruptured

as life is swept off course.

We come to pray our questions,

we come to share our grief;

in this, our act of worship,

to say that we believe.

As headlines overwhelm us

and make us close our minds;

as news from distant islands

brings death before our eyes.

We seek a hope to cling to,

a refuge to embrace;

lest in the grip of knowing

we lose our hold on grace.

How dare we speak of heaven

made human for our sakes,

or preach a loving Father

when seas and mountains quake?

We dare because our story

speaks of a love that came

to bear the cost of dying

and still would do the same.

In Christ our souls take refuge,

though not to hide from truth:

we face each anguished question

with faith, if not with proof.

We hear his wistful question:

“And will you leave me too?”

Though all the world should crumble,

We hope, O Christ, in you.

 

Copyright © Gareth Hill Publishing/Song Solutions CopyCare, 14 Horsted Square, Uckfield, TN22 1QG www.songsolutions.org