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 life.’ he declared after the aeroplane spiralled out of control killing all 62 passengers and crew.

When old Simeon entered the Temple in Jerusalem, he met Mary and Joseph with the Christchild. He took the Christchild up in his arms and sang his famous song, ‘Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace’.  Was this a coincidence or a God-incidence as the elder said?

St. Luke says,  ‘Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the Temple…’ Clearly, Luke  understood it as the work of God. Of my choice of opening hymn and Adriano’s need to grab a quick coffee, we cannot be sure. Faith may illuminate. For those without faith, God acts in their lives too. Much of his work is unseen and unacknowledged for now!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

  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
Read more
  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
Read more
  10 July 2024 The Revd. Will Pearson-Gee was an Army Chaplain rising to the rank of   major in 1999. He is now the rector of Buckingham where he said that some of the services for which he is responsible were ‘overflowing with widows’. So Kaya Burgess has reported. He has been so concerned about the lack of men in church that he raised it at the Church of England Synod in York. ‘What resources has the church developed to help people think about and practise evangelism among men?’   Two facts justify his concern. Firstly, 59% of worshippers in the Church of England are women. In some kirk congregations, this would be an under-estimate. Secondly, the British Social Attitudes Survey found in 2019 that at every age men were less likely than women to say they had a religion, went to church or believed in God. In his address to the Synod, Will Pearson-Gee argued that men who became Christians were more likely to bring their whole family with them. He also argued that the language of
Read more