1 September 2024 At the Reformation, the Church of Scotland didn’t go down the Anglican route which focused its main services on the monastic offices. Instead, the Kirk’s liturgy is based on the historic liturgies for the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Because of a shortage of ministers, the service was curtailed to the first part – the Liturgy of the Word. In this way, our main act of worship was meant to be sacramental. Not only that, the Sacrament was to be celebrated alongside the preaching of the Word. When I was a teenager, I remember my old minister telling me that he understood the preaching of the Word to be like the breaking of bread, a breaking of the Word. This came back to me when I read Alexander Schmemann’s book on the Sacrament. ‘Western Christians are so accustomed to distinguish the Word from the sacrament that it may be difficult for them to understand that in the Orthodox perspective the liturgy of the Word is as sacramental as the sacrament is ‘evangelical’. Th
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31 August 2024 In his essay, ‘The Theology of Worship’ in his recently published ‘Reformed Humanism’, Professor David Fergusson says some very significant things about preaching. Let me illustrate with four quotations from the text. They all emphasise the supreme significance of preaching the Word which I think has faded in our own day. 1. ‘For Luther, the Word of God could be described as present in, with, and under the words of the preacher.’ As Fergusson points out, Luther is using sacramental language to describe what is going on. 2. ‘In interpreting the message of the Bible for a given time and place, the sermon becomes again the Word of God.’ 3. ‘Preaching is neither a monotonous action that simply repeats in timeless fashion a single message, nor a paraphrase of the Scriptural passages that have already been read….The preaching of God’s Word is facilitated both by Scripture and the ongoing action of the Spirit.’ 4. ‘Where the preacher speaks, there God too will addre
30 August 2024 The other day, I found an old copy of ‘Logie Kirk News’. In it, I wrote a brief report entitled, ‘Words, Words, Words’. I had been talking to the local Primary School about words. In order to illustrate the theme, I told them about the most important words in the world. SIX - I admit I made a mistake. FIVE – You did a good job. FOUR – What is your opinion? THREE – If you please. TWO – Thank you! ONE – We Of course, the least important word in the world is I. Afterwards, I challenged the Primary 7 classes in the school to find out the SEVEN most important words in the world. At the next assembly, they presented the school with their discoveries. They were great! 1. Let us thank God for everything always. 2. We must always care for other people. 3. Forgive me I know I was wrong! 4. Can I do anything to help you? 5. Be at peace as God would want. 6. I did not mean to hurt you. 7. We will always be there to help. 8. Love your neighbour
29 August 2024 In our Larger Catechism, which was approved by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1648, one hundred and ninety-six questions are asked and answers given for members to memorise. There are two important questions asked about the preaching of the Word. ‘How is the word of God to be preached by those that are called thereunto?’ This answer is given. ‘They that are called to labour in the ministry of the word, are to preach sound doctrine, diligently, in season and out of season; plainly, not in the enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power; faithfully, making known the whole counsel of God; wisely, applying themselves to the necessities and capacities of the hearers; zealously, with fervent love to God and the souls of his people; sincerely, aiming at their glory, and their conversion, edification and salvation.’ The Word of God is to be preached diligently, plainly, faithfully, wisely, zealously and sincerel
28 August 2024 In the ‘Directory for the Publick Worship of God’, prepared by the Westminster Divines in 1645, there is a chapter entitled, ‘Of the Preaching of the Word’. It makes it very clear that this is of supreme importance to the Minister of Word and Sacrament and a very demanding occupation. It begins with these words: ‘Preaching of the word, being the power of God unto salvation, and one of the greatest and most excellent works belonging to the ministry of the gospel, should be so performed, that the workman need not be ashamed, but may save himself, and those that hear him. It is presupposed (according to the rules for ordination), that the minister of Christ is in some good measure gifted for so weighty a service, by his skill in the original languages, and in such arts and sciences as are handmaid unto divinity; by his knowledge in the whole body of theology, but most of all in the holy scriptures, having his senses and heart exercised in them above the common sor
27 August 2024 Whereas St. Paul begins his first letter to the Corinthians with the folly of the cross, he concludes it with the glory of the resurrection. He allocates a full chapter to celebrate it. It is absolutely wonderful and ends in majestic style: Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15;51,52) The power of his argument serves to raise us up above all the trivia which seeks to diminish our souls. It offers us a bigger canvas to work within and a larger perspective on life and living. ‘Therefore,’ my beloved brethren,’ he concludes, ‘be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.’ (1 Corinthians 15;58) An encouragement for this new day!
26 August 2024 In the face of Corinthian disunity, St. Paul uses two powerful arguments. Firstly, the primacy of God’s work. Apollos and Paul have a common purpose. They are working together not in competition. They have different jobs to do. The one plants. The other waters. But it’s God who gives the growth. ‘So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,’ he says, ‘but only God who gives the growth.’ Without God, our work is in vain. What is harvested from our endeavour is God’s alone. (1 Corinthians 3;7) This is the true perspective for all ministry. It is not ours but God’s. We all participate in the ministry of Christ. What is of lasting value is not what we do per se but what God accomplishes through us. This perspective rightly challenges our pride and our disunity. Secondly, the folly of the cross. And this is Paul’s most eloquent starting point. ‘For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being
25 August 2024 When I visited the National Gallery for Scotland on Friday, I made a new friend. It was a small painting by the Italian artist, Bernardo Butinone. He was painting in the latter half of the fifteenth century, probably in Milan, Italy. My eye was immediately drawn to the painting because it centres on a stone spiral with the Christchild seated on top. He looks like a dwarf dancing mischievously on this mathematical platform. ‘I’m the King of the castle, you’re the dirty wee rascal!’ Well, not quite but you get the point. The legend beside the painting told us two things. Firstly, the painting was one of sixteen scenes from the life of Christ which formed part of an altarpiece. The paintings had been removed from their original location and distributed all over the world. Secondly, the painting was given this interpretation. ‘The unusual spiral throne on which Christ is seated may be an allusion to the Tower of
24 August 2024 I was meeting a friend for lunch in Edinburgh and had an hour to spare. I popped into the National Gallery to visit some of my friends. It is a beautiful building – spacious, gracious and full of priceless treasure. It is remarkable that it is all free for our enjoyment and inspiration. I began with Constable’s ‘The Vale of Dedham’ – the river Stour, leading us along the valley to the village of Dedham. And there, in the distance but right in the centre of the painting is the church tower, unmistakable symbol of our indelible Christian heritage. My next port of call was David Wilkie’s historical painting about the May Fair at Pitlessie which is just down the road. His father was parish minister. During worship, the son would secretly make sketches of the congregation. These were eventually incorporated into this painting. It is literally living history! ‘The Skating Minister’ followed. I never tire of it and marvel that Scotland’s most popular and most recognis
23 August 2024 A very old woman died this week. She was 117 - and at the point of departure was the oldest person in the world. Her name – Maria Branyas Morera. She was born in San Francisco on 4 March 1907 but lived mostly in Spain, surviving two World Wars, the Spanish Civil War, the flu epidemic and Covid! Remarkably, her family wrote, ‘She died as she wished in her sleep, peacefully and without pain.’ Apparently, she had never been to hospital. She had never broken a bone. She had no cardiovascular disease. She had a very lucid mind. The only inhibiting factors were mobility and hearing. In 1931, she married a doctor who died aged 72. They had three children, one of whom predeceased her. There were eleven grandchildren and many great-grandchildren. ‘The time is near.’ she said to her family. ‘Don’t cry, I don’t like tears. And, above all, don’t suffer for me. Wherever I go, I will be happy.’ In an interview with the Guinness Book of Records, Branyas answered questions a
22 August 2024 Another communication from Erella and the Villages Group. She is a Jew and has spent years visiting the Palestinian villages on the West Bank supporting families and especially young people during the conflict there. Let Erella speak for me today. The truth is horrifying but the faith of Ehud, a fellow Jew, is remarkable. The Hebrew name Ehud means ‘love’ or ‘united’. On June 26, 2024, five houses in Umm al-Khair were demolished. This week, Wednesday August 14th, the village was demolished again. Now tents were destroyed - erected instead of the demolished houses, tents that had been erected so people would have a place to spend the night and find some shade during the searing day. We were in the South Hebron Hills that day, planning to visit Eid and Ne’me whose home was demolished on June 26th. In the morning before we drove out, I called to finalize our visiting hours with Ne’me. She said there were bulldozers near the village and it was as yet unclear where th
21 August 2024 We engaged a roofer to look at our roof. There wasn’t much wrong with it, certainly not anything to do with the slates and timbers. He had been in the trade for thirty years and talked openly about the difficulty in engaging young apprentices. ‘They don’t want to work!’ was his summary judgement. ‘Why is that?’ I asked. ‘They’re on their phones all the time,’ he said. ‘They won’t climb the ladders because they’re scared. See that butterfly over there, they would be frightened if it came too close!’ This was accompanied with a lack of commitment. ‘Why do you want to work on roofs?’ he asked in despair. ‘Dunno!’ came the disinterested reply. He shook his head. The mobile phone is a distraction. It opens up the possibility of something more interesting happening elsewhere! Mindfulness is all about living in the present moment. That isn’t the same as searching for some immediate gratification in the present. Living in the present moment demands commitment now,
20 August 2024 Preaching most Sundays of the year has allowed me to discover several different congregations in the Presbytery. The lack of children and young people has been a great discouragement and part of the aging demographic of the Church of Scotland. More recently, I have begun to be concerned about the lack of opportunity to celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Within the last year, for example, I have not been invited to celebrate it. I have made enquiries. The simplest answer has been to put the blame on Covid. Although Calvin and our Scottish Reformers desired to reinstate the Sacrament to a weekly celebration at which the people would partake in both kinds (unlike the medieval church where the people hardly received the bread never mind the wine) it did not happen because of the shortage of ministers. In addition, the Reformers were very keen that the celebration of both sacraments should not be separated from the preaching of the Word. It is not that the
19 August 2024 The Sunday Times is celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of their first weekly ‘Best Sellers’ list. In this week’s ‘Culture’ magazine, the top one hundred are listed with miniature summaries of their contents. There were no books on mathematics nor theology. There were a number on scientific subjects including Dava Sobel’s ‘Longitude’ which I enjoyed. But her book about the relationship between Galileo and his daughter was more immediately engaging. The latter didn’t appear in the top hundred. ‘The Ascent of Man’ by Jacob Bronowski and ‘Alistair Cooke’s America’ were popular books from the seventies. I succumbed to purchasing both. The one came in at number 26, the other at 36. I learned a lot from Alistair Cooke’s ‘Letter from America’. His conclusions were superb. He, more than any other, taught me how to end a sermon. I gave my mother number 12, ‘The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady’ which she loved. And my brother gave me number 68, Alan Bennett’s ‘Wr
18 August 2024 I am concerned that when smaller charges are subsumed into larger units, ministry is reduced to ‘needs must’ and this will prejudice the smaller rural units. They require ministers to have more time to stand and stare, to build up relationships which may or may not lead anywhere and to work with all ages and all community agencies. The value of this work may be lost without a specialist dedicated to the task. Here are six areas of specialist training: 1. breaking down the division between secular and sacred – in the rural charge this is much more diffuse and more in keeping with the true nature of the Gospel where God is at work in all places and all people 2. integrating young and old – in the rural charge people are not so self-conscious of these age differences and work together in community events and initiatives 3. embracing the pace of the natural world and nature’s discrete modus operandi – results are not immediate nor immediately recognisable, G
17 August 2024 Do you know these Scottish proverbs? They are all about coping with worry and the things which distract us from living life to the full! The first! ‘There’s nothing got by delay but dirt and lang nails!’ Can you guess what that’s all about? ‘Don’t procrastinate!’ Now is the time to be generous, to say sorry, to make peace! The second! ‘Picnic spots are always better further on.’ You’ve experienced that, haven’t you? You’ve got the picnic in the car – but you can’t find the ideal place to stop. You’ve seen one place at the side of the road. A bit muddy? The view’s restricted. Someone else has parked there … Let’s go a bit further on and on and on … Until the whole idea of a picnic becomes fraught with indecision and regret. ‘We should have stopped further back .. we missed … We missed the opportunity to be content! The third! ‘A body should be in the fashion and smile.’ What adornment can match the smile? Why bother wearing expensive, fashionable clothes wh
16 August 2024 In a recent issue of the Church Times, it was reported that Lutheran Churches are to discourage the use of the filioque clause in their version of the Nicene Creed. When the Creed was first approved by the Council of Nicaea in 325 it included the statement that the Holy Spirit ‘proceeds from the Father’. In seventh century Spain, ‘and the Son’ was added to this to read that the Holy Spirit ‘proceeds from the Father and the Son’. It was a local addition and not approved by an Ecumenical Council of the Church. The Pope resisted it until 1030 when it became embedded into Latin Christendom. According to RW Southern, in 1050 Pope Leo IX ‘defended the orthodoxy of both statements with an illustration: a fruit (he said) may be said to come from the trunk of a tree, or from the branch, or from the trunk through the branch; so the Spirit may be said to come from the Father, or from the Son, or from the Father through the Son.’ It was one significant contributing fact
15 August 2024 David Fergusson, Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University, and Kirk minister has just produced a series of essays on theology, philosophy and the Church. One is entitled, ‘Mapping the Church – Current Challenges of History and Mission’. In it, he tackles the issue of mission in the Church. He begins by acknowledging that mission is a constituent part of the Church’s work not least in handing on the faith to those who are coming after us. But he points out that the ‘Five Marks of Mission’ which have been embedded into our current thinking are not comprehensive. ‘The church has many functions,’ he writes, ‘the glorifying of God in its worship, the education and nurture of its people, the pastoral care of the sick and the dying, and the bearing witness to the gospel in the life of the world.’ Mission is one of several aspects of being the Body of Christ. He recognises that there is a mistaken view in some quarters that by focusing our attention a
14 August 2024 We have visited the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam on several occasions and marvelled at the collection of paintings by Vincent van Gogh. During his life, he painted over 900 canvases. He only began painting when he was 27 and died by his own hand ten years later. During his lifetime, he sold only one painting. His poverty was only alleviated by the generosity of his brother, Theo, who, strange as it may seem, died six months after him. Vincent spent what money he had on paints rather than food. Because of his poverty, we are the beneficiaries of a whole series of self-portraits. If an artist couldn’t afford a model, he could always paint himself. And Vincent did this with enormous honesty. Remember the portrait with the bandaged ear? In order to conserve canvases, he would paint over some of his earlier works. There may yet be a masterpiece hidden underneath a masterpiece. The tragedy of his life was memorably capsulated by the singer Don McLean who wrote his so
13 August 2024 On Sunday, the opening hymn was ‘Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy’. It celebrates the presence of God throughout the day. It is a favourite of many people including an elder in one of the churches where I was preaching. She associated it with a friend who had just died. They both belonged to a hand-chimes group. Each rehearsal began with the playing of this hymn. She remembered her friend when we sang it together. She described this choice of hymn as a ‘God-incidence’. Perhaps Adriano Assis thought the same not of the hymn but of his belated attempt to claim his seat on the fateful flight from Cascavel to Sao Paulo. The hospital worker from Rio de Janeiro decided to grab a coffee as he waited for the check-in counter to open. He was too late for the check-in and had an angry exchange with a Voepass attendant. The diligent member of staff stuck to his guns and, as it happens, his action had a profound effect upon Adriano’s life. ‘He ended up saving my li
12 August 2024 Primo Levi, an Auschwitz survivor, wrote a brilliant essay entitled, ‘The Mirror Maker’. In it, the craftsman makes a little mirror which is attached to his forehead. The person who looks into this mirror sees himself as the other person sees him. As you can imagine, it has mixed fortunes. Old friendships are confirmed but friendships based on habit and convention are quickly dissolved. Who has the courage to wear such a mirror upon their heads? Would you? It isn’t a best-seller. It was Robert Burns who summed up this mirror image when he wrote about personal conceit as displayed in a kirk no less. ‘O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us,’ he says, ‘to see oursels as others see us!’ It is a scary prospect and not readily embraced. The Bible encourages us not to see ourselves as others see us but to see ourselves as God sees us. That’s difficult. ‘Now we see through a glass darkly.’ says St. Paul about the old tin mirrors which had been manufactured in the city
11 August 2024 There was some excitement at the Paris Olympics. It was the men’s 400m. No one from Great Britain had won a gold in this race since the great Scottish athlete and missionary, Eric Liddell in the Paris Olympics of 1924. A hundred years later, we were in with a chance. The favourite to win this event was Matthew Hudson Smith from Team GB. He led the field in the second half of the race but in the last fifty metres was overtaken by the American Quincy Hall. He ran in 43.40s and just beat Hudson Smith by a margin of 0.04 seconds! Remarkable. Eric Liddell remains a golden legend from the Paris Olympics. He only ran in the 400m because the heats for his favoured race, the 100m, were held on a Sunday. The men’s 4x100m relay was also held on the Sunday. If Liddell had been able to run, gold was secured. As it was, they got bronze. Twenty years later, he was interred by the Japanese when they occupied that part of China where Liddell had been working as a missionary. By
10 August 2024 With the Paris Olympics in the background celebrating the remarkable achievements of men and women of many different nations, united together in a common playful arena, we have had to look into the foreground of anti-immigrant protest, attacks on mosques and hotels housing asylum-seekers and violence towards the police. It has been an extraordinary contrast and an alarming set of circumstances. There has been much speculation about online influencers and the power of social media. The emphasis from the politicians has been on restoring law and order and ensuring prohibitive prison sentences are meted out to the worst offenders. Tommy Robinson who is not only a far-right activist but also a convicted criminal somehow manages to harness one million followers to his online commentary. And this whilst sunbathing in Cyprus! How does he manage to enthrall so many people with so much wickedness? This is surely the more important aspect of these riots. Why are so
9 August 2024 The oldest extant complete will drawn up under Roman Law was written in 381AD by Gregory of Nazianzus. He was fifty-one at the time. It contains his own signature – and the signatures of six Cappadocian bishops! Three things stand out in this will. Firstly, apart from a few personal legacies, Gregory consecrated all of his possessions ‘to the Catholic Church which is in Nazianzus for the service of the poor who are under the care of the aforementioned church’. This is the nature of a true religion as Isaiah says, ‘Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house …’ (Isaiah 58;7) Secondly, he effectively set up a trust to care for the poor. One of the trustees was another Gregory ‘deacon and monk, a member of my household whom I set free long ago’. He had been a slave but now an equal partner in the Lord. As St. Paul says, ‘In Christ … there is no longer slave nor free …’ (Galatians 3;28) Thirdly, Gregory took the time t
8 August 2024 ‘Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.’ says St. Paul. ‘For there is no authority except from God and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.’ He goes on to develop his theology of government. ‘Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed and those who resist will incur judgement.’ (Romans 13;1,2) I am not sure what Keir Starmer will make of Paul’s theology for the Prime Minister is a self-professed atheist. ‘I am not of faith, I don’t believe in God – but I can see the power of faith and the way it brings people together.’ For him, faith has a positive outcome for others. He can hardly subscribe to Paul’s theology which doesn’t depend on Starmer’s belief to validate it. Most famously, it was a foreign leader, Cyrus, King of Persia, who facilitated the will of God in leading the Jewish captives in Babylon back to their homeland. According to Isaiah, God anointed him for the task. But there is
7 August 2024 Loving and Living Lord, You call us to persevere when things are difficult and You value those who persist in worship and prayer, discipline and dedication; strengthen our resolve to follow You and to value the golden gospel of him who ran the race with determination, finished his work with grace and was crowned not with gold but with thorns, even Jesus Christ, our risen Saviour and Lord.