“What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

Hello everyone!

It's a quote from Moses in the book of the Exodus, but it's also possibly the best title for a clergy autobiography “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

Today, I will mostly preaching about Grumbling;

Grumbling in the Oxford English Dictionary is described as “Complaining in a surly manner or muttering discontentedly.

Webster’s dictionary says it’s;

1. To complain or protest about something in a bad-tempered but typically muted way. or

2. Make a low rumbling sound.

Marlene Dietrich was quoted as saying “Grumbling is the death of love.”

The American Author Edgar Watson Howe said “I believe in grumbling it is the politest form of fighting known”

Half of another quote I found by the author Robert West says;

No talent, no self-denial, no brains, no character, is required to set up in the grumbling business;

The sermon is about grumbling because in the OLD TESTAMENT the Children of Israel are at it again! They have moved camp to Rephidim and they can’t find any water – they seem to have forgotten the miracles that accompanied their escape from Egypt – the sea parting, the angel and the plagues. They are about to stone Moses because they are thirsty. I suppose though, it is easy for us to think they are whining – in our land we have running water – unlimited running water – and we won’t die from the lack of it.

But anyway, Moses is sent by God to find water in an unexpected place – and all is well for the Children of Israel – they find God again too! But they do grumble along the way – all the time.

We have the classic line from Moses, a cry to God! He runs out of his tent, falls to his knees, waves his fists in the air and pleads to God!

“What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

I love the Bible, we see the best and the worst of people and I personally gain a huge comfort from the fact that we might be able to put people on the moon, split the genome and create a handheld games console that shows images in 3d without 3d glasses!....we are clever!.....But in the pages of a book that stretches back thousands of years we can find people like us, experiencing life like us, turning to God like us, and hoping for a better future…just like us! Where would we be without the Bible?

The Children of Israel were out in the wilderness and they had come to a place where they found no water – this made them agitated and it nearly ruined it all. They were angry through their own frustration.

We can all become parched in our faith if we lose the opportunity to be fed and watered. We need to play the hide and seek game with God each day to find the living water, the water that can refresh our souls.

The message behind this famous conversation in the Gospel reading we had today is the thirst of Jesus. You can imagine the scene, a hot dusty midday – apparently it is not only “mad dogs and Englishmen” but also Messiahs that go out in the midday sun. The well is deserted – ordinary people have collected their water and gone home for a sleep, to wait until the glaring heat of the sun gives over.

The story is full of allegory; the woman at the well represents the Samaritan people. According to Jewish History the Samaritan people were split into FIVE different nations – each with a different GOD. It might be that these were represented by the woman’s five husbands, whilst the man she is now with represents the worship of the LORD, a worship that takes place far away from the recognised Jewish places of worship.

The woman recognises Jesus as a prophet – but Jesus is also Messiah, and it is through the Jewish Messiah that salvation will come. Leaving her jar at the well (some people think this is highly significant) she returns to town to announce that this prophet might just be the Messiah. For two days, Jesus remains with these Samaritans.

John the Evangelist seems keen to tell us that these outcast, second rate foreigners are more ready to recognise the Messiah than his own people. After all “He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him”.

At the end of the day though – neither the Jews nor the Samaritans are given the prize in this Gospel. The Jews want the worship to take place in the Temple, and the Samaritans “on this mountain” as it says. Jesus declared that the worship desired by God is tied neither to Jerusalem nor ‘this mountain’, but will be in spirit and truth.

And to this day Jacob’s well is still there. The temple on Mount Gerizim, overlooking Sychar and holy to the Samaritans, is gone.

So, too, is the temple in Jerusalem, 30 miles to the south. Jesus said that the hour was near when “neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem” would they worship. Today, the two temples are no more. To that extent, Jesus was right.

And the truth of the matter, as far as I can see is to be found in the last few sentences of the Gospel. (which might be on the other side of the sheet) Jesus says “look around you and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving his wages and is gathering the fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “one sows and another reaps”. I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour”

Well – this makes me feel better really – it really does. It tells me that as Christians we are here to do a task that has been prepared for us. We are being entrusted with preparing the work for the people who come after us. We are called to work for the Kingdom of God to change the lives of others with love.

We are not only getting people to believe in Jesus, but getting them to believe in themselves as well, so that they can lead fulfilled lives.

Our Gospel is about the gift of living water. Behind the phrase is the Hebrew expression “mayim chayim”, meaning fresh water, running water, water that has not been left standing in dirty jars, and is not stale and brackish. Of course, in our text, the term is being used metaphorically. It stands for something else. Later, John will tell us that when Jesus offers living water, he is promising the gift of his Holy Spirit (John 7.37).

A Christian faith is all about seeing the promises come true in your life and the lives of others. There is no substitute for action – and God will not be found if we aren’t looking for Him.

Rev Mark Lawson-Jones

Bishop Dominic embarks on a marathon run of Lent talks

Bishop Dominic joined around 100 people at St. Mary's church in Magor at the end of his first week of Lent talks. He proposes to repeat his series of five talks in five venues throughout Lent, two years ago he completed a similar task, meeting around 6-700 people each week.
This year we in the Magor Benefice are pleased to meet him as he gives an introduction to the Gospel according to Saint Luke. If you would like to join us, the talk begins at 7.30 each Friday. This Friday (25th March) it will be preceded by a celebration of Holy Eucharist for the Feast of the Annunciation.

Lent 2 - We're going on a road trip

“Go – Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land that I will show you!” so Abram went – “not knowing where he was going”

This simple instruction is where it all started really.

The decision of Abram to go meant that we are all involved – and each time we take a step forward in faith, each time we ask God to show us what to do, each time we listen to the small voice calling us to do good for the sake of the kingdom of God, we are taking a step on this journey, begun all those years ago.

Last week and the week before we had been hearing from the Book Genesis, and in that story of the creator and his creation, we see God giving ‘free will and knowledge’ to Adam and Eve. Steps of faith can always be refused, and Abraham could have stayed put. His journey into the unknown was a free choice, with the free will that is the hallmark of our relationship with God.

God promised that, in him, all the families of the earth would be blessed

“I will make you into a great nation

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you.”

Abram – Abraham said yes. And because he said yes, we are blessed indeed – and we have the opportunity to say “yes” to God too.

Last week I was in the Ashmolean museum in Oxford for an hour over lunchtime. I looked at some artifacts that were incredibly old, and as a bit of an amateur in all this stuff I asked why the pots and tools were different. I was told that people had essentially changed how they did things, they stopped being nomadic and started farming. Some of the things they made were beautiful.

The people had found a home and settled down to create and grow rather than move and hunt. This told me a lot about the people, but I couldn’t get a sense of ‘what it meant to them’, ‘how did they feel about it’ and ‘why they did it’.

Returning to home and looking at the Sunday readings, I could see that something similar is going on in the reading. Abram has started something different with God, even though the wandering Arameans eventually stopped wandering physically, spiritually the people of God have remained nomadic, to this day.

What do I mean?

In that sense – Abram – when he started all this, was onto an exciting thing, when he agreed to go on a journey and wander with God for a while. It’s wandering through life with God learning more about him and his purpose for all people, finding opportunities to care for the sick, needy and troubled.

The journey doesn’t mean that we will be safe or protected. The persecuted millions will testify to that. The people who have left their homes in the morning to do good - never to return because of terrorist attacks or military action will testify to that. People of faith who risk all they have for saying yes and following – to be a blessing to others.

When I was thinking about this sermon – St. Augustine was buzzing around my head.

“You awaken us to delight in Your praise, for You made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You.” —The Confessions of St. Augustine (c. 400 A.D.)

In the Gospel reading we have of the Pharisees named Nicodemus visiting Jesus after dark to look for answers. Jesus tells him that he must be “born again” and continues to provide us with some text that could arguably provide us with the most talked about and important and well debated statement made. “born again”, “for God so loved the world”, “for God sent his Son not to condemn the world…but to save the world through him”

These phrases have been the foundation of faith for many Christians.

And in the midst of the Gospel story there is Nicodemus, who might have come under cover of darkness to decide for himself whether Jesus was dangerous and had to be stopped, or he might have decided that he needed to start an Abrahamic-esque journey of his own. Risking all for God.

So, where are we on our journey?

I think that is a question you will need to ultimately ask yourselves. There are a few points;

1. Don’t forget we are in LENT, it’s the time of following Christ into the wilderness to see where he will lead you.

2. As I said previously, journeys with God don’t bring earthly security or riches – they do bring blessings. (if you are wondering how much a ‘blessing’ sells for on eBay don’t start the journey)

3. Finally, this LENT – think if your faith brings unity or division, blessing or…unblessing?

May God bless us as we seek to bless others. May God travel with us through this life that we might rest with him in Glory. May he multiply our efforts to make us all superhuman for his sake.