No border signs

October 2014

Imagine, in some remote corner of the world, driving past a sign that reads:

King Maritoba

sovereign ruler of Cantabamba

welcomes you to his kingdom

But, as you pull up in the next town you realise that there are many Cantabambians who don’t recognise King Maritoba’s authority at all.  They tell you they never take any notice of his laws, they deface his statue in the square and they won’t pay his taxes.   Their allegiance is to other rulers.

It’s a reminder that a kingdom is not always defined by border signs and colours on maps, Its extent is seen in the lives of people who are clearly under the king’s authority, who obey the rulers and submit to their laws, either out of fear or love.

So it is that although there are no border signs welcoming you to the kingdom of Jesus and no lines that could be drawn on a map, yet Jesus was not joking when he said that he was forming a kingdom as real as any state or empire that the world has seen, and that would one day eclipse them all.  This kingdom grows every time another person or family bows the knee to Jesus and begins to have a higher allegiance to his sovereign, loving rule than to any other power.

Jesus told many stories to teach about his kingdom.  Over four Thursday evenings I would like to invite you to come and hear some of these stories that tell us what kind of king Jesus is and why we need to reckon with the spread of his kingdom.  You will be very welcome whatever your views; there will be plenty of time for questions and discussion and we won’t assume you are familiar with Jesus’ teaching.

‘The King and I’   7.30pm-9.30pm on 9^th & 23^rd October, 6^th & 20^th November.

There is no charge but please book a place by contacting me.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

The middle-man

September 2014

Margaret Thatcher once seemed synonymous with the Conservative Party.  She has gone but the Tories remain.  Who could have envisaged the English football team without David Beckham, or University Challenge without Bamber Gascoigne?  No doubt, in the future, some will live to see Virgin without Richard Branson or the Royal Family without Queen Elizabeth II.  But Jesus Christ has not been replaced and never will be.  The Christian faith could not continue to exist without him. 

Why not?

No-one is like him.  The apostle John said he had seen, heard and touched ‘the eternal life’.  He had realised that Jesus who became an ordinary-looking man, had also, for ever, been there with his Father.  Jesus alone is the origin of all life in this universe.  He alone is the God-man.

And no-one can do his job.  Jesus, the God-man, stands in the middle, hands outstretched, with God on one side and us on the other.  He has made it possible for us to approach the God who has no darkness anywhere in him.  We may think that we could walk into God’s front garden at any time but Jesus tells us straight that no-one can get access to his Father except through him.

Churchyards are full of the graves of so-called indispensable people who had to step aside for others.  But Jesus doesn’t step aside.  He really is indispensable; he could not stay in the grave. 

This is the Jesus we are telling you about – still alive, still the head of his Church, still the ruler of heaven and earth, and still standing in the middle as no-one else can – the God-man bringing people like you and me back into a relationship with his Father.

We’d love to tell you more.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

Long-Distance Relationship?

August 2014

Dear Xxxxx

Thank you for contacting us about Christening/Baptism for your son.  I understand how much the strong links that you have with Burton and with St James' Church must mean to you even though you don't live in the area anymore.  Since moving here I have met many people who feel that Burton will always be 'home'.  However, baptism is about belonging to a Christian congregation (as well as a declaration of your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ). When a child is baptised the local church family is publicly welcoming a child who has begun to worship with them each week, and as parents you promise that you will, by your example, draw them into the church family, walk with them in following Christ, and help them to take their place in the life and worship of Christ's Church. This makes no sense if you live too far away to be able to come to church here each week.

I hope that there is a church near you where you could worship each week (if you need help finding one then let me know where you are living and I will do my best to help) and I am sure the minister there would be willing to talk to you about Christening/Baptism for your son. In fact, if you are not already involved in a local church, then I would remind you that your parents promised you to Jesus Christ at your own baptism here in Burton and the congregation all said: "Fight valiantly as a disciple of Christ against sin, the world and the devil, and remain faithful to Christ to the end of your life." As you care for your son and think about his future, don't miss the opportunity to think about who you belong to and what was promised on your behalf.

If you have questions about anything I've said do come back to me.

With very best wishes

Graham Burrows

Favourite Books

July 2014

Thank you to all those who worked so hard to organise the great Burton Sports Day, and especially to those who fixed the weather.   And thank you to whoever chose the theme for the decorated floats: ‘Favourite Books’.  When that was announced it was clear that St James’ Church had to enter, and there was never any question about which book our float would feature.  But why is the Christian church so keen on a rather long, old book? 

We all understand when people are attached to other publications:

• A man who receives a letter from his new fiancée will keep it close to his heart.
• If you go walking on the fells you keep your map to hand not buried at the bottom of your rucksack.
• I get out the bread maker instruction book nearly every evening because I still can’t remember how much water is needed for each recipe.
• Perhaps you have a favourite novel.  You’ve read it already (maybe more than once) but you will read it again and will delight in things you hadn’t fully seen before.
• While junk mail goes straight in the bin, a letter with significant news, whether telling you to visit your doctor urgently or inviting you to a job interview, will be read many times.

The Bible is all of these things and more: the maker’s instruction book, a reliable map for life, a letter from someone who loves us deeply, shockingly dreadful news – and almost unbelievably hopeful news, a book with a single, complex and intriguing plot whose depths and wonder will never be exhausted no matter how many times you read it. 

There was a time when the people of Britain were described as ‘A People of One Book’, when even the thought and speech of atheists was Bible-saturated.  Nowadays much of the Bible is unfamiliar, and we can be astonished to find that it doesn’t endorse our 21^st Century Western thinking.

But as Moses warned his people, “They are not just idle words for you – they are your life” (Deuteronomy 32:47). 

This is a book that still has power to transform people, families, villages, even nations.  

It’s our favourite book.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

Can they deliver?

June 2014

Many people would say that they don’t pray.  But you do!  You might not pray to God but ‘pray’ doesn’t necessarily mean asking God for something.  It sounds archaic now, but “I pray thee” was once a common way of saying ‘I beg you’ or ‘please’.  To pray was to make an earnest request of someone.  “I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again.” (Titania to Bottom.)

You and I have things that we long for – health, contentment, success in life, the appreciation of other people, certainty about the future, and to be loved by someone who matters to us. 

And, unless we are in the depths of despair, we all think that we know who or what is likely to give us these things – wife, husband, parent, child, the government, a house improvement, an exam pass or a new club joined.  These are some of the people or things we ‘pray’ to.  We might not speak any word or prayer to them but we have an expectation that they will provide, we pin our hopes on them, we devote ourselves to them and we will be disappointed if they let us down.  Or, if we think we are self-made, we will be angry at ourselves when we can’t answer our own prayers.

Who you pray to, or look to, reveals what you believe about ultimate reality.  When a man prays to God in the name of Jesus, he is denying that any of the things he longs for come ultimately from the government, another person, a comfortable house or anything else in this world.   He is denying that he himself can provide what he most wants.  To pray like this is to reveal your conviction that the Father of our Lord Jesus is the creator and source of every good thing and ultimately the only one who can answer the prayer, and provide what you long for at the deepest level.

The presence of the church of Jesus Christ in the village raises a question – not ‘do you pray?’ but ‘who or what are you praying to, and can they deliver what you are hoping for?’ 

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

Come In or Keep Out?

May 2014

“Can I come to church?” someone once asked me. 

“What do you mean?” I replied. 

“Is it alright for anyone to just turn up?”

I was surprised.  I had not guessed that anyone would think they needed permission to come to their local church.  But I suppose we might wonder if it is alright to ‘just turn up’ at the tennis club, the auction centre or to a Council meeting and perhaps the church seems similar – a club with uncertain entry conditions.

First let me assure you.  If you came to any service in the village church someone would greet you, make sure that you had somewhere to sit and answer any questions you had.  Our services are straightforward and we expect that there will always be some present who are ‘just looking’.  If you brought children they would be welcome too, there are areas in the church that you could use if your child became restless, and at some services there would be a group for them to join.

“But,” you may ask, “Would I be welcome at a deeper level?  Would I feel awkward because I don’t believe the things that you all believe?  Would I not fit in because my marriage was a disaster or because I’ve not bothered with church for years?”

How would Jesus have received you?  He was well known as a friend to all kinds of people. Jesus had meals with the rich and powerful, but he also associated freely with disreputables. He was ready to welcome anyone, but he never left people in any doubt that they had to come on his terms. The well-off were told to stop depending on their wealth. Swindlers realised they had to pay back what they had taken. Adulterers had to change. Strong men were afraid in his presence.

And Jesus still welcomes people into His church in exactly the same way.  His welcome is genuinely and freely extended to all.  You are not disqualified by anything you have thought or done because he can deal with that, but Jesus still insists you must come on his terms.  He must have the right to decide what you will or won’t do from now on.

Welcome!

Graham Burrows

Putting the universe together again

April 2014

Imagine a world where it is possible to win the battle against weeds in the lawn and brambles in the hedge.

Imagine a world where buildings can go up that will never collapse, where engines don’t fail, where plans succeed and crops are healthy; where work is never futile.

Imagine a world where governments always serve, where power is not abused, where the things that “must never happen again” never happen again.

Imagine a world where people no longer give up all hope that justice will be done to those who destroyed their family, stole their land or emptied their bank account.

Imagine a world where the things I have done wrong can be atoned for, and the relationships I have damaged can be restored.

Imagine a world where people never hear devastating news from doctors, where life does not become harder and harder as the years advance, where death is not an invincible enemy.

Of course it’s a fantasy world, isn’t it?  This is so far removed from our experience of life on this planet that we can hardly imagine such a world existing without a major overhaul; a complete strip-down of the universe with all the parts put back together in a very different arrangement, almost a whole new creation.

But what if there had been a time when just such a reversal of the universe had been seen?  What if there had been a man whose whole life work never once had the shadow of futility and despair fall across it?

Imagine if we lived in a world where, even just once, a dead man had lived again, with a new kind of body that would never weaken, age or die. 

Imagine the glimmer of solid hope that might be to us!

Happy Easter!

Graham Burrows