Rising to the top

May 2019

If you spent time with children this Easter did you discover if they know what happened on the first Good Friday and Easter Sunday?   Studies tell us that many children have no idea about this – although I know there are exceptions.  But what if you had asked them about the origins of that little-known day tucked away on a Thursday forty days after Easter – Ascension Day?

The Ascension of Christ was a popular theme in art, although paintings of Jesus floating in mid-air, or of his feet disappearing as if through a hole in the ceiling, don’t necessarily help much with the credibility of the accounts.  Luke simply says that Jesus left them and was taken up into heaven.  In his second book he says that Jesus was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

This was not levitation!  Jesus was leaving this created universe and returning to heaven.  So this is a claim about where Jesus is now – not just about what happened in the past.  And that’s why Ascension Day matters.

The Ascension is the end of the job.  Having sacrificed his own life on the cross Jesus presented his wounded body in heaven itself – as the eternal guarantee that he has already carried the can for everyone who puts their trust in him.

The Ascension is the coronation of Jesus.  “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father” that is, in the place of true authority and power over this world.  This claim is a source of great comfort to those who have put their trust in Jesus’ rule, and a source of ridicule and discontent from those who oppose his rule.

The Ascension is the glorification of mankind.  The one at God’s right hand is a man like us, a pioneer who has overcome death and frailty and the limits of our space-time.  Jesus is no longer available only to a few people in Israel – he is forging a personal link with many.  And he promises that all who trust him will similarly cast off this mortal body and put on a new indestructible body.

Our joint Ascension Day service will be in Holy Trinity Holme on Thurs 30^th May at 7.30pm.  You would of course be very welcome.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

The Cruelest Crown

April 2019

Capernwray Hall lies a few miles to the south of us.  For most of the year, it is home to up to 180 young adults who come from many different countries of the world to study the Bible in order to better know the God who is their Creator and who, in Christ, gave his life for them.  At other times the Hall is a centre for Christian holidays.  Derek Burnside, Principal of the Bible School, has kindly allowed what follows to be taken from a recent letter of his.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

In a sick, twisted way, it was a stroke of genius.  Bored troops, away from home, have the chance to have a little ‘fun’ before the prisoner in their charge is sent to his death.  And one of them has the great idea of crafting a crown of thorns, the ideal combination of pain and mockery to torture the one accused of claiming to be a king.  Some soldier's God-given creativity is twisted and abused to wound the creator himself.

It was the perfect symbol for that moment, one that that went far beyond those soldiers’ casual cruelty.  The righteous Son of God has thorns crushed onto his brow, thorns that exist only because of human rebellion (Genesis 3:18).  He wears our sin, carries our curse. But those very thorns are twisted into a crown, in anticipation of the King of kings’ coming victory over sin and death.  The problem and the solution to human sin are woven into one vicious, glorious piece of headwear just as sin shows its starkest self.

Victorious athletes and festival celebrants would have worn headgear of similar style, adding further layers to this divine imagery.  The King of grace willingly submits to his own creatures’ brutality, and then rises to reign victorious over sin and death, carrying us in his wake, rejoicing.

Behold the man upon a cross, my sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life – I know that it is finished. 

Derek Burnside

https://capernwray.org

Coming down to earth

March 2019

A few days before writing this letter I fell off my garage roof.  I was going to put back a slipped tile but I badly misjudged things and came down to earth rather painfully.  I now have several broken ribs and some uncomfortable weeks ahead.  As you can imagine I’ve thought a lot about all that happened.  Here’s just a few of my thoughts:

I am foolish and make wrong choices.  And if that’s true for my plan to fix the tile it is true in a hundred other ways in my life.  Not all of my mistakes have such sudden painful consequences but the results may be deeper.

My foolishness hurts others.  It brings tears to my eyes now to remember how I lay on the stretcher listening to the paramedic leave a message on my wife’s voicemail, knowing how awful it would be for her to get that message.

How amazing our First Responders are.  I was on my own when I fell and could only make it as far as the phone.   It was such a relief when help arrived and if David was annoyed at me for having interrupted his decorating he certainly didn’t show it.  Thank you!

Suffering is real.  I spent 3 days in a hospital ward full of badly injured men.  The Bible tells me to expect such places in our world – our collective rebellion against our loving creator means that suffering is never far away – but to see it close up is desperately sad.  There were a few like me who were recovering well but others who will always have to live with their injuries.  For some their physical injuries were nothing compared to everything else they faced in their lives: fractured relationships or suicidal depression.

Thank Jesus for hospitals.  They are remarkable places staffed by people who are caring, competent and resilient.  Thank you!  I don’t mean that the staff would all say that they do what they do because of Jesus, but when you think about the cultures in our world’s history where compassionate medical care flourished, and think about who influenced those cultures, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion:  Trace the lines back from today’s desire and ability to heal people; so many of them go to the one who went around “healing every kind of disease and sickness”.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

The neglected room

February 2019

When did you last go exploring?  You may not spend much of your time at the South Pole but when you go on holiday I expect that, after you unpack, you feel the need to leave the campsite or the hotel and head out to explore the surroundings.  We’re also used to exploring new ideas or life-styles – that first-ever visit to a gym, or a sincere conversation with someone who votes differently from you or has a different diet.

But what about exploring Christian faith?  Surely no-one who has grown up in this country would feel the need to explore something that seems so familiar?  But is it familiar, or is Christian faith more like a neglected room in a very large house – it’s so long since the door was opened that hardly anyone can remember what’s in there.

Perhaps we have a vague idea of a few prominent features: some characters (Abraham, Moses, David and, of course, Jesus) and some half-remembered sayings, but no certainty about how it all fits together.  We know that earlier generations must have found it relevant because Christian faith became so woven into our nation’s life (it’s there in our buildings, in our books, in our festivals, our thinking and our values ) but we’re not sure why it was able to transform our nation.  We know that our politics are in chaos, our relationships and families are falling apart, and that huge numbers are struggling to find purpose and direction in their lives and yet we don’t expect that the old dusty room of Christian faith would be a likely place to discover the treasure that we seek.

So I’d like to invite you to Christianity Explored.  Seven Thursday evenings led by me here at the Vicarage in Burton plus one full day, with clear explanations of classic Christian beliefs and time to think, to ask and to question.  Interesting, surprising and perhaps life-changing.  Of course if you come I’d love to convince you that this is the best news you’ve ever heard, but there will be no arm-twisting.  There’s no charge.  We begin on 7^th February and you just need to ring or text me if you are interested in joining us.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

An antidote to chaos

December 2018

Jordan Peterson (the Canadian clinical psychologist whose book ’12 Rules for Life – an antidote to chaos’ has now sold over 2 million copies) has said that you “can’t break the rules … if you twist the fabric of reality it will snap back on you”.  So, for example, you may get out of a tricky situation by lying but you are destroying your own integrity and mental well-being, and other people’s trust in you too.

Based on his clinical work Peterson says that he has “never known anyone get away with anything”.  He knows how people break ‘the rules’, he sees the chaos and pain in their lives and he connects the two.  It’s a striking challenge to the usual view that I can live as I please.  “I did it my way” is our proud boast.  Peterson is right in this; our actions have consequences. 

But, I humbly submit, Peterson is still missing two things.

What Jordan Peterson sees as the ‘fabric of reality’ in this world is attributed by the Bible to the unchanging character of the God who made our universe.  The reality at the heart of everything is a person, not disembodied rules.  Hostility to his rules is a personal affront to the God who lovingly, deliberately and carefully knitted us.  And so the consequences of breaking the rules are far worse than Peterson has observed in his consulting room; they include being permanently estranged from the One we were made for, disconnected at the deepest level of our being.

But, secondly, a moral universe without a God leaves out all the good news – that the God who created the rules has also stepped in to rescue us.  God’s rules  show us what we should be like, but his answer to our failure is not more ‘rules for life’ but Jesus – living by the rules, dying for our rule-breaking and bearing in himself the full horror of the ‘snap-back’.  Jesus offers, as a free gift, solidarity with him so that our rule-breaking and chaotic life can become his responsibility, and his rule-keeping and ordered life can become his gift to us, given in love.

How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!  So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven.

Happy Christmas!

Graham Burrows

Finger-Lickin’ Good News

November 2018

A white moustache and goatee, thick-framed glasses and a string tie, he is now world-famous for his restaurants.  But not everything went well for the young Harland Sanders.  When he was only 5, his father died.  Later he argued with his step-father and left home.  He worked on a farm, then briefly joined the army.  He was fired from several jobs for fighting and was well known for his constant swearing.  By the age of 40 he had a petrol station and was trying to provide for his family through the Great Depression.  Setting up the old family dining table and chairs in a corner of the petrol station he started selling food.  One of his best meals was fried chicken and Harland developed a novel pressure-fryer and his still-secret blend of 11 herbs and spices.  Eventually ‘Colonel’ Sanders began to sell franchises – the first ‘Kentucky Fried Chicken’ opened in Utah in 1952.  There are now 22,000 world-wide.

Even after he sold the business Sanders continued to be the instantly-recognisable face in the KFC advertisements, but as he grew older he knew something was wrong.  He later wrote, “If God created the world – and I know He done that – and I am part of His creation, then I should have a close relationship with Him.  I didn’t and it bothered me … all the success I’d had with my franchising business … still left me with a hollow feelin’ … I was a good citizen and all that.  But all this while I knew I wasn’t right with God.”

He was persuaded to go a church meeting where it dawned on him that this was exactly the mission of Jesus – to take on himself the weight of our guilt and so to put us right with the God who made us.  Sanders began to put his trust in Jesus rather than in his own effort to be good enough.

It “just seemed like a great burden was lifted off my shoulders.  I’d never felt anything like that before, and here I was seventy-nine years old.”

Colonel Sanders continued, “I pray to God Almighty my story will encourage you also to commit your life to Jesus.  If you will, no matter what hard times you may go through – if you keep turning to Him, acknowledging Him, and honouring Him in all you do – He’ll help you through.”

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

Dogger

October 2018

Have you read Dogger by Shirley Hughes?  I asked just that in a school assembly this week and I was surprised that so many of the children had read the book - Dogger was published in 1977 while I was still at school!

The book always brings a lump to my throat because of the extraordinary kindness of Bella as she resolves the problem that has engulfed her little brother.  Dave has lost Dogger, his dearly loved soft-toy dog and no-one can find Dogger anywhere.  Dave is still very sad on the day of the school summer fair when, suddenly, on the toy stall, he spots his beloved Dogger with a price tag on him: 5p.  Dave only has 3p and he can’t make anyone understand that Dogger is really his and shouldn’t be for sale.  Eventually he finds big sister Bella.  She has been having a great day and has even won first prize in the raffle, a huge yellow teddy bear with a beautiful blue silk bow.

Bella and Dave rush to the toy stall but they are too late; Dogger has just been bought by a little girl who now refuses to sell him again despite Bella’s pleading.  Dave cries.  The little girl cries and then she catches sight of Bella’s big yellow teddy and puts out her hand to stroke his beautiful blue silk bow.  “Then Bella did something very kind …”

I can’t say more in case you haven’t read the story. 

I don’t know what Shirley Hughes intended when she wrote the book but if anyone wanted to picture Jesus Christ’s extraordinary kindness towards us then it would be hard to better this.  Bella found a way to rescue Dogger for Dave but it cost her dearly.  Jesus Christ found a way to be able to rescue you and me from our self-destructive rebellion against our Creator but he paid a heavy price; the cost was his life.

As November 11^th approaches remember Jesus’ words, “Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”  If you remember who Jesus is and the agonising depths of his suffering on the cross, then this really means “No-one has ever loved you as Jesus did.”

Sincerely

Graham Burrows