Father God, who gives us the gift of freedom and choice, we
pray for all who today will be exercising their right to vote. We pray for your
wisdom and understanding. We ask that whatever the result, you would give us
hearts that are not only motivated by self-interest, but by a vision of what is
good for our neighbour. And as we bow before you, the one from whom sovereignty
comes and who is sovereign over all, we place the future of Europe, of our
nation and of ourselves into your hands. We pray this in the name of Jesus
Christ, who is King of kings and Lord of lords. Amen.
Thursday, 23 June 2016
Sunday, 12 June 2016
How can we change the world?
How can we change the world?
It is an important question. It is also part of our Diocesan
vision: ‘To grow in influence’
How can we be salt? How can we influence society – bring
healing where things are going bad, preserve what is good, and add flavour to
what has gone flat?
How can we be light? How can we show people the way to
Jesus, and to the good life, in a world that can be very dark and in which so
many have lost their way?
Perhaps we need a new Constantine?
Constantine lived 272-337AD, and our history books tell
us that he was probably one of the most significant people in the history of
Europe. It was because of his decision, that Christianity became the religion
of the empire, and subsequently the dominant political and cultural force for
almost 2000 years. It is because of him that so many of our laws are rooted in
the bible.
And surely, if we wish to grow in influence, we should be
praying for significant godly leaders, politicians, academics, broadcasters,
even celebrities: people who will shape the culture in which we live and
influence this nation and Europe for Christ and for good.
Or perhaps we need people of significance who can
influence the church: that God will raise up in our generation evangelists like
Wesley or Whitefield or Moody or Jonathan Edwards (not the triple jumper!) or
Billy Graham. We should be praying for a new influential spiritual figure, with
a significance that touches many for Jesus: a new Mother Theresa, CS Lewis, John
Stott or Henri Nouwen. We should be praying for real spiritual leaders who can
make a difference.
I suspect that most of us think that if we wish to
influence people and society we need to go big. We need big people, with big
ideas and big power and big events.
But that is not what Jesus teaches.
If we look at vv13-16, you will notice that Jesus does
not tell those who are his followers, his disciples to become salt and light. He doesn’t say to them, ‘Be saltier’ or
‘Shine more brightly’. Instead he says to them:
‘You are the
salt of the earth. Keep your saltiness’;
‘You are the
light of the world. You can’t be hidden’.
And please remember that Jesus
was not speaking to political or religious or business leaders; he was not even
speaking to a big crowd. Instead, although a large crowd has gathered, he specifically
goes away from the crowds (v1) and chooses instead to speak to his disciples,
his first followers: fishermen, tax collectors, freedom fighters and some of
the women who were already following him.
And it is precisely these sort of people, and not the
rich and strong and powerful, who will influence and shape people – not just
for a few years, or for a lifetime, or even for 2000 years. They will influence
people for eternity. It is these people who will be ambassadors for the Kingdom
of God. They are the real game changers.
So what are these game changers like?
Well, in vv3-12 Jesus describes the heart of a woman or
man who is following him.
1.
They are the poor in spirit.
These are not the people you would expect to be game
changers.
These are the people who have realised that they are
nothing, but that God is everything. They live not by trusting their own
abilities or gifts, but by trusting him. They have no self-confidence but
complete God-confidence. Catherine of Siena was praying one day when she heard
God speak to her. He said, ‘There are only two things you need to know. You are
she who is not, and I am He who is’.
So people who are poor in spirit have nothing to prove and
nothing to lose. They know that they are known by God and beloved by God. They
know that everything they have is unmerited gift from God. They live in a
constant daze of gratitude and thankfulness. They pray. And they are set free
to love and to serve.
2.
They are those who mourn.
How can those who weep change the world?
Well, perhaps they are the honest ones. They realise that
life is not simply about moving from one party to the next. It is not about a
constant smile.
We tell people to smile for the camera. It is a very
cultural thing. In earlier times you never smiled for the camera. If you look
at the photos of your great grandparents, it is all very formal and they all
look serious. Why? Is it to show the
world that we are enjoying ourselves? It is what we want to say to eternity:
‘It was all about enjoyment’.
But the person who mourns is the person who is real. They
can be game changers because they are prepared to look at the pain, to take the
pain in, and bring the pain to one who has taken onto himself all the pain, and
so is bigger than the pain.
3.
They are the meek.
These are the very last people we would expect to change
the world.
They don’t push themselves forward – they push others
forward. And that is not because they have a sense of inadequacy, but because
they delight to see others use their gifts and grow in their gifts.
Meekness is not about weakness. It is not a ‘The meek
will inherit the earth if that is OK by you’. Think of a stallion at a dressage
competition. It has immense power, but it is power that is submitted to
another.
In CS Lewis’, The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Aslan – the king, the Christ figure –
walks into the camp of the evil witch. Even though he has more strength than
all of them put together, he allows them to bind him, to shave his mane, to
mock him and to kill him. He chooses to do it in order to save Edmund.
4.
They are those who hunger for righteousness.
They are game changers because they have a different set
of values. They don’t hunger for the things that this world hungers for. They
are not out for money, for status, for comfort, for new experiences, for power
or for things. Significantly they don’t even hunger for influence. Instead they
have a deep longing for God and for the things of God.
On one occasion Jesus is told that Herod has made a death
threat against him. Jesus says, ‘I am not going to change anything. I have to
do the work that I have been given’. On another occasion he spoke about what he
ate. He said, ‘My food is to do the Father’s will’. He hungered for
righteousness. Doing what God wanted was his daily bread. It is what sustained and
strengthened him.
Game changers are people who begin to have that deep
passion, who hunger to see God’s will done.
5.
They are those who are merciful.
The world tells us that we have to stand up for
ourselves.
If someone hurts us we need to show them that we can’t be
messed with.
And if we feel that we have the right to get what we can
from them because of what they have done to us – then we should exercise that
right. We should make them pay.
Mercy is so radical because it is the opposite. Mercy
begins by recognising how much God has let us off what we owe him, and it is
about letting the other off the debt that they owe us.
It is not the people who are out to get revenge who will
change the world. They are just playing the world’s game of dog eat dog. No,
the people who make the real difference are the people who say, ‘I forgive’.
6.
They are the pure in heart.
The pure in heart are game changers because they are
totally sincere. They know themselves. There is no pretence, no image. What you
see is what you get. What is on the outside is what is on the inside. Their
visible motives are the same as their invisible motives. They are rubbish at
lying. In this world they are almost child-like, naive. But they are beautiful
people and one day we will see that beauty and all our mockery or
self-justification will be silenced.
7.
They are peace makers.
I am not speaking of the big stuff, but the little stuff.
They want enemies to become friends. They weep when people are in conflict with
each other, not because they hate conflict (often peace makers have to be
prepared to allow the anger and hatred to be directed at themselves), but
because they know that God created us in a way that meant that we need God and
we need each other.
Peace makers are reconcilers: they want people to be
reconciled to one another
Peace makers are evangelists: they long that people would
be reconciled with God.
And now we come to the most surprising category:
8.
They are the ones who are persecuted.
The people who are the salt of the earth and the light of
the world are not the people who exercise power. They are the ones who those who
exercise power persecute.
They are not persecuted because they are arrogant or
offensive (and I am conscious that we can be very arrogant and offensive), but
because they are prepared to make a stand for God, for righteousness, mercy,
purity and peace – even when they do it in a way that is gentle and shows great
respect for others.
In God’s economy it is not the man with the club who is
the game changer, but the man who is being beaten.
Our history books tell us that the game changers are the
powerful, clever, attractive, rich and significant people in human history.
But God’s history book, while it will include those who
have had roles that our secular world considers significant, is packed full of
very ordinary people who have done very ordinary things in the name of Jesus.
Jesus said that if you even just give another person a
glass of water in his name then you will receive your reward.
I think of Jenny, who is in hospital now and who has been
given only a few days more to live. All she can do is lie on the bed, and she is
at times in quite a bit of pain. A few weeks ago one of the junior doctors who
is caring for her spoke with her. He said, ‘You’ve got a faith. I wish I could
believe’. And Jenny, who is now, in the world’s eyes, one of the least of all,
is gently continuing to speak about her faith about her Lord Jesus. That is
what it is to be light.
I think of one of the mums in our church. Her mother was
struggling with a very painful leg. So she said, nervously, ‘Can I pray for
you?’ She prayed that God would heal her mother’s leg. God healed her leg, and
it was so real that her mother was in tears for all of the next day.
I think of Stuart. He was a young man who worked with us
in London. He was a gifted musician. But when he was a student at York, he told
of how on one occasion he was invited to lead a time of worship at St Michael
the Belfrey. It is a large student church. He had never done it before. He
spoke of how nervous he was. But as he stood up and led the worship, the Holy
Spirit came on the place with astonishing gentleness and power – God met with
people and they were changed. That is what it is to be salt – to do what you
are called to do in the name of the Lord Jesus, often out of your depth and
trusting not in yourself, but in him.
Do you wish to be a game changer, a history maker?
You probably won’t become a new Constantine
You probably will not be a new Mr Theresa or Billy
Graham.
All you and I need to do is to do what these first
disciples had done.
They came to Jesus and they listened to him. They confessed
their sin, their self-reliance, that they had hungered after the things of this
world and not the things of God.
And they turned to Jesus. They believed him when he said
that God’s Kingdom, God’s rule was very close. They put their trust in him, they
allowed his Holy Spirit to work in them and they began to live for his Kingdom.
You don’t need to read more books, or go on more courses,
or get better qualifications to become salt or light. Instead you need to recognise
that you are nobody and that Jesus is everything. And you need to throw
yourself on Jesus, possibly take a risk or two, trust him with your life and be
obedient.
[When, in a few minutes we come to communion, we come
empty handed. We are nobodies with nothing. And we simply come to receive.
Just as we have received God’s gift of life, so we
receive his gift of forgiveness, of mercy and help in our troubles, we receive his
promises, his strength and his presence.]
That is how we will change the world.
Tuesday, 7 June 2016
BREXIT: what are the issues for a Christian?
Summary: There are three principles which should lie
behind any Godly governance. Does it bring prosperity? Does it enable us to
live quiet and peaceable lives? And does it lead to justice?
I will look at three issues: solidarity, subsidiarity and
migration/free movement and see whether the bible has anything to say about
them. And we need to ask ourselves whether the EU is able to deliver some form of godly governance.
Finally, I will argue that each of us has to make up our
minds not on the basis of what is best for Britain, but what is good for those
who are our neighbours.
-------------------------------------
INTRODUCTION
Christians are exiles who live in a foreign land (1 Peter
2.11-12). As such, they have lived under many different types of government:
empires, nation states, city states, unions.
If you were a Christian born in Belgrade in 1917 you
would have lived in 7 different countries.
Think of the rather arbitrary division of Africa by the
colonial powers into different nation states
And is the UK a nation state or a union of nation states?
There is no ideal form of government or state that will
guarantee prosperity and security: certainly not staying in the EU or leaving
the EU.
And the idea that the England or the UK is like the OT
state of Israel, specially chosen and anointed by God, is idolatrous.
Some argue that nation states are permanent and
God-given. They quote Deut 32.7-9
“Remember the days of old, consider the years long past;
ask your father, and he will inform you; your elders, and they will tell you.
When the Most High apportioned the nations, when he divided humankind,
he fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the gods;
the Lord’s own portion was his people, Jacob his allotted share.”
ask your father, and he will inform you; your elders, and they will tell you.
When the Most High apportioned the nations, when he divided humankind,
he fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the gods;
the Lord’s own portion was his people, Jacob his allotted share.”
But this is quite obscure, and the emphasis is on the
fact that the people of Israel have been chosen by the Lord to be his own
portion.
And if one looks at Acts 17.26f, [“From one ancestor he
made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the
boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him
and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us”] we notice that the
boundaries of the nations are time-limited, and the reason that God has limited
us to a particular time and place is so that we would search for God.
And yes, we have had a great Christian heritage in this
nation, many of our laws have been shaped by the bible, and we are incredibly
fortunate to have a head of state who is a committed Christian – but nobody,
for instance, could argue that the monarch as head of the Church is a
particularly biblical model.
Jesus was remarkable ‘apolitical’. He did recognise the
rights of human authorities to rule and to raise taxes (Luke 20.25); and the NT
urges the godly discipline of submission to those in authority (except for the
case of conscience – Romans 13.15)
And as Christians we look for another home, for the return
of Christ, and the establishing of the Kingdom of God
Nevertheless, as exiles, as people who belong to another
world but who live in this world, we have a responsibility to this world.
1. Jeremiah
writes to the people of Israel who were exiles in Babylon. He urges them to ‘seek
the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord
on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare’ (Jeremiah 29.7)
As Christians, the people of God in exile in a foreign, ungodly land, we are
still called to seek the welfare of this land.
2. Paul
urges us ‘to pray for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may
lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and
acceptable to God our Saviour, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to
the knowledge of the truth.’ (1 Tim 2.2f)
3. And
if one looks to the values of the Kingdom of Heaven, then we should be working
so that, where we are able to, we should shape our temporary home so that it
will, to the extent that it can, mirror our future eternal home. So we are
called to strive, in so far as it is up to us, to live in a society which ‘pursues
justice by building up the common good’ (Andrew Goddard). We are to live in a
society which respects individuals made in the image of God, but also provides
for those who are in need – and equips them so that they might, in turn, equip
others.
And as people who live in a democratic society, we need
to take our responsibility to vote seriously. And because of that I think that
the referendum is a good thing.
THREE ISSUES
RAISED BY THE BREXIT REFERENDUM
1. SOLIDARITY
The idea that we are all, as human beings, in this
together!
Personalism is a philosophical way of looking at the
world which has come to us from Scripture via the teaching of the earliest Church
Fathers (Eastern and Western), and subsequently via Roman Catholic social
teaching. It teaches that because God has revealed himself, at his heart, as
Trinity – as three persons in relationship – it is who we are in relationship
that fundamentally defines us. In other words, it is not my physical nature
that makes me really who I am, but my relationship with others. So the more
open that I am to others, especially to others who are different to me, the more
fully I become the person I am meant to be. And I am, whether I like it or not, responsible
for who they are - and they for who I am.
This is profoundly biblical.
We are bound up together. In the parable of the Good
Samaritan, Jesus answers the question, ‘Who is my neighbour’ with another
question, ‘Who becomes a neighbour to the man beaten by robbers?’ (Luke 10.36)
Or we look at Jesus teaching in Luke 6: ‘If you love
those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who
love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is
that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope
to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to
receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting
nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of
the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be
merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6.32-36)
And so, after the war, France, Germany, Italy,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium – whose politics were dominated by the
Christian Democratic parties – looked to this idea of solidarity as a way of
preventing another major war in Europe.
Nationalism was seen to be the great evil that had led the nations to
two world wars. And, it was argued, if
some sovereignty was surrendered and shared, then peace was far more likely. And
that was the initial impetus for the European Community: the merging of the
coal and steel industries so that neither Germany nor France could rearm
without the other knowing.
And there was, in the initial years, a real spiritual
vision, a commitment among the member nations to ‘the constant improvement of
the living and working conditions of their peoples’. And there was an emphasis
on supporting families and local communities
So, for instance, Churchill’s often quoted Zurich speech:
“We must build a United States of Europe. In this way only will hundreds of
millions of toilers be able to regain the simple joys and hopes which make life
worth living. The process is simple. All that is needed is the resolve of
hundreds of millions of men and women to do right instead of wrong and gain as
their reward blessing instead of cursing… There can be no revival of Europe
without a spiritually great France and a spiritually great Germany.”
The problem is that as that spiritual vision has faded (because
of the decline of the Christian Democratic parties in Europe, and the introduction
of new elements into the EU: former communist states, Islamic communities, plus
the break-up of Yugoslavia) – much of the sense of solidarity has been lost.
On the positive side:
-
Peace has been maintained between France and
Germany
-
There is a significant EU solidarity fund
-
Great steps have been taken with protecting the
environment
On the negative side:
-
In the last 25 years Europe could have played a
leading role in Bosnian war (1992-5) and Kosovan war (1998-9) but did not. And
many would argue that the EU has played a significant role in causing, or at
least complicating, the Ukrainian civil war.
-
Migration: There is little sense of solidarity.
Policies to share migrants locating to Greece and Italy were rejected by UK,
France, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Czech Republic.
-
Welfare state: pressure of mass migration is threatening
the welfare state.
-
Talk of collective answers has been replaced by
a stress on individual rights. Lisbon: guaranteed rights to life, prohibition
of torture, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, academic freedom and
education.
A sense of solidarity has been
replaced by a new European economic orthodoxy which replaces the sense of moral
or spiritual purpose with a free market dominated model. Market and economic
performance indicators have become an end in themselves.
“A consensus has been allowed
to build up that the primary, perhaps exclusive value of Europe lies in
national economic interest – i.e. will we – the British or Spanish or Slovaks –
be ‘better off’ in or out of Europe”. (Ryan)
2.
SUBSIDIARITY
The union does not take action unless it is more
effective than action taken at national, regional or local level.
The Old Testament is suspicious of big government.
-
The tower of Babel (Genesis 11.1-9)
-
The people’s request for a king in 1 Sam 8.5:
‘You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a
king to govern us, like other nations.” It is seen as an act of rebellion
against God. The people are warned that a king will centralise power and will
oppress them. But God still gives them a king, and then transforms kingship in
the person of Jesus Christ.
And subsidiarity is echoed in Catholic social teaching. Pope
Pius XI: ‘It is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance
of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and
subordinate organisations can do’
The problem is not with the theory. The problem is the
practice. How can we attempt to embed subsidiarity into the EU institutions? We
have the European Parliament, but it only really has the right of veto.
Currently there are very clumsy attempts
Much of the time decisions are being made by technocrats
§ Economists:
the requirement to reduce levels of sovereign debt mean that austerity has been
imposed on Greece. Whatever one thinks of that, it is clearly contrary to the
will of the people
§ Lawyers:
emphasis on rights seems to appear to people as something that is external that
has been imposed on them
§ And
it inevitably leads to excessive bureaucracy and red tape
And so there is a sense of ‘democratic deficit’. I can
name my MP. I have no idea who our MEPs are.
3.
FREE
MOVEMENT AND MIGRATION
It is hard to find biblical justification for or against.
There certainly was free movement in OT. In fact, the
people of Israel in Egypt demanded free movement!
And there is the command of Leviticus 19.33-34: “When an
alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien
who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love
the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord
your God.”
At the same time, there were the commands to the
Israelite nation to wipe out the foreigners (nokrim) who were perceived to be a
threat. Although I would argue that what was dangerous to them was not their
threat to Israel as a national entity, but a threat to them in their faith and
trust in Yahweh
There was, to a degree, free movement in the Roman empire,
and that certainly helped with the spread of the gospel.
And people speak of how mass migration (especially from
Syria and the middle east) means that we lose our Christian identity. And yet I
can’t help feeling that this was lost long again. Indeed, many of the more
recent migrants have revitalised our churches – and they are the reason that
many churches in London are growing. That was my own experience as a vicar in
Holloway.
SUMMARY
So to go back to my first three principles.
1. We
need to ask if the EU will bring prosperity: not just to ourselves, but to the
citizens of Europe and, beyond that, to the world.
2. We
need to ask if the EU, the 28 states and 500m members, has enough of a shared
identity to see political institutions as genuinely representing them. In other
words, will this make for peaceful government. I am reassured by the fact that
many young people do not see an issue here. They feel that they are part of
Europe in a way that many of those of us who are older do not.
And we need to ask what is
going to be most helpful, not for the preservation of the gospel – of what we
have – but for the spread of the gospel?
3. We
need to ask how do we apply the law of love to this?
The great command is to ‘Love
your neighbour as yourself’. What is significant about that is that we cannot
choose our neighbour. They are a given to us. But we can choose to become a
neighbour to them.
The debate is usually couched in terms of what is good
for Britain. And for a Christian that is profoundly the wrong question. Rather
we need to ask, What is good for the other countries of the EU? What would our
remaining/leaving do for them? And what would it do for the rest of the world?
Whatever the decision, we need to commit ourselves to it.
If it is to leave, we need to make it work not just for
us, but for others.
If we vote to stay in, we need to make it work not just
for us, but for all.
There are no answers, I am afraid.
But I am convinced of this. That, as Christians, what we
have in Christ is bigger than any stance we take on this particular issue.
And in the end, whatever the vote, God is sovereign.
I have read a few articles on this, some of which I
was more convinced by than others.
A Christian case for leaving the European Union, Duncan
Boyd
A biblical case for BREXIT, Pastor Peter Simpson
Articles from the Jubilee Centre: Guy Brandon, The big
Isseu
Andrew Goddard: The EU referendum
Intercessors for Britain
However the main article that I found most helpful, and
many of the arguments I have repeated here, was from the Theos thinktank, A
soul for the Union by Ben Ryan
Saturday, 4 June 2016
Why should we share?
[Invite a pre-prepared older child to arm wrestle with a younger smaller child. Tell them that the prize is a large box of chocolates. Usually the older will want to allow the younger to win, but you need to persuade them before the service that they must win]
Is that fair? Unfortunately that is the way that the world works. The strong get the stuff and the weaker usually get nothing.
Perhaps N [who has the sweets] should share them. But why should they share? I'm sure that they could make a very strong case for keeping what they have. After all they won it in a fair fight!
And why should I share what I have?
1. We share because we are told
to: They tell us to share at school. And the government tell us to share. That is what taxes are. But usually when we share because we have been told to share, we try to get out of it. We try to avoid paying taxes.
In the OT people were told to share: they were told to tithe. But because they really didn't want to share, they found ways round it.
2. We share because we feel we ought to. We feel guilty if we don’t. Charities have been challenged on
this. Sometimes they get people to give by making them feel guilty if they don’t give,
and they prey on people who are vulnerable. You know when you give out of guilt when your giving is token-giving. (Giving away one sweet from our box of chocolates).
3. We share out of self-interest:
we give for what we can get back for it. I share with you today because one day I may need you to share with me. Or I share with you to make you or other people like me: so that they say, 'What a generous person they are!' In Jesus’ day people would have a giving
competition: see what a great person I am because I give more than you. (So we give away not one sweet, but two sweets. Am I not a lovely, generous person?). Jesus challenged people who gave like that.4. We share because we really want to.
That is the
kind of sharing that happens in Acts 4.32-35.
People share:
- not
because they have been told to do so.
- not because they think they ought to.
- not out of self-interest (they don’t give directly, but through the church leaders – so no sense of control).
- but they give because they want to.
- not because they think they ought to.
- not out of self-interest (they don’t give directly, but through the church leaders – so no sense of control).
- but they give because they want to.
And that is
evidence that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, is at work in their lives and
in their community.
1) The Holy Spirit has given them a deep
love for Jesus. Do you notice how it says here that they continue to testify,
to tell people, about the resurrection of Jesus. The single most important
thing that this Spirit filled community can do is to tell people that Jesus is
alive.
2) The Holy Spirit has made them realise
that everything they have is a gift. You received this box of chocolates as a
gift. But everything that we have is gift. And do you notice here how we are
told that these first Christians don’t call anything their own.
3) The Holy Spirit has set them free to
share. Not just share a little, the left-overs. They share big – they sell lands and
houses. The Holy Spirit has set them free to let go.
They
know that who they are does not depend on what they have.
In our world the
person with the big box of chocolates is better than the person with the little
box of chocolates. But they know that is not true.
And
they also know that they don’t need to hold on to everything to be secure –
because they can trust God for the future.
4) The Holy Spirit has given them a deep
sense of love for their brothers and sisters (They are of ‘one heart, one mind’). And the
Holy Spirit starts to help them think. Why should I have when others don’t
have?
[To the child with the chocolates] I'm giving you an ethical dilemma. I really have given you that box of chocolates. What are you going to do with your box of chocolates?
And if you
think that is really unfair of me to do that to N – then I challenge each of us.
We possess far more
than a box of chocolates.
Do we know anything of the Holy Spirit at work in
our lives?
Do we have
that deep love of Jesus?
Do we
realise that everything we have is gift?
Are we being
set free to give?
Are we being
given a deeper and deeper love for our Christian brothers and sisters, and
especially for those in need?
In other
words, what are we going to do with what we do have?
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