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Horses & Chariots: 13 September 2020

This has been a difficult week. The last time that we gathered for Sunday worship at St. Columba’s I preached on John 4:34  Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work’ On Tuesday we gathered in St. Columba’s and via zoom for the first time since then. We listened to a hymn, prayed together and then made the decision to close St. Columba’s in December.

It is difficult to feel that we have ever completed the work that God has given us but we have come to a point where the work at St. Columba’s needs to be brought to an end and as a congregation it is time to move on to something new. We might have come to this view without Covid, but the lockdown has forced us to make the decision sooner than we might have liked with the added sadness that we are unable to meet and support one another as we prepare for this change. We trust that God will complete the work from the seeds that have been sown in the community from St. Columba’s.

As I prepared to print and send this letter I learnt that Ken Newborough a previous Minister at St. Columba’s died this morning. We give thanks for his life and his ministry. Please hold Janet and the family in prayer.

At the same time we continue to prepare for a new start at Ansty Road and Ball Hill. The restrictions in place for Covid mean that our restart at Ansty Road will be lower key than it would have been otherwise. We have planned to open Ansty Road this Saturday so that people can see how the work is going and have a preview of the new look building. That will still happen but in the light of the changing Covid situation we will not hold the Afternoon Tea that we had planned. Instead anyone who comes will be given an Afternoon Tea box to take home and others will be delivered. 

On Monday evening Ansty Road will hold a Church Meeting using the zoom link that we use for Sunday worship. It will be good to review our work together and plan for the future. However tentative those plans need to be there is still plenty of work to be done.

Please continue to pray for each other and support one another by your friendly phone calls and bubble visits. It makes a big difference to those who who are not able to get out and about as before. 

Prayers & Reflection for 13 September 2020

Prayer

Give thanks to the God of heaven

For love endures for ever

The stone which the builders rejected

has become the main cornerstone

This is the work of the Lord

It is wonderful on our eyes

Hymn

Guide me o thou great Jehovah

pilgrim through this barren land;

I am weak, but thou art mighty,

hold me with thy powerful hand;

bread of heaven, bread of heaven

feed me now and evermore.

 

Open now the crystal fountain

whence the healing stream doth flow;

let the fire and cloudy pillar

lead me all my journey through:

strong deliverer, strong deliverer;

be thou still my strength and shield.

 

When I tread the verge of Jordan,

bid my anxious fears subside;

death of death, and hell’s destruction

land me safe on Canaan’s side:

songs of praises, songs of praises,

I will ever give to thee.

William Williams  (1717-91)

Bible Exodus 14:19-31 

Reflection

Many lectures from my time at College have been quickly forgotten, but a few made such an impression at the time that I still go back to the notes from time to time. One of those was a bible study by John Ponnusamy, a visiting tutor from Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary, Madurai. He took us through all the times horses and chariots are mentioned in the bible. It begins in Genesis 50 when Joseph welcomes the family into Egypt. Horses and chariots were the finest military hardware of the biblical period. They were fast, frightening, formidable. Every time they are mentioned they amplify military power and the might of Empire. Time and again the biblical writers show that God is far more powerful, and Exodus 14 makes the point in a terrifying way. Israel will celebrate whilst Egypt mourns.  

Later, Israel will be encouraged not to follow this path of creating military power, but to trust in God. In one story David captures chariots, but destroys them rather than use them himself. It was Solomon who brought horses and chariots into the life of his Kingdom, ignoring the warnings of the prophet Samuel that militarisation would create a society in which the whole purpose of government would be to feed the power of the army. That would be many years in the future, returning to the Exodus passage we see the forces of Empire destroyed and those who were slaves experience the joy of liberation. A fresh future is before them – what will they do with freedom?

And what do we do with the freedom we have been given? How do we view the consequences of that freedom, especially where people’s lives have been lost? Does it matter if those lives were fighting for the “other” side or do we mourn all that is destroyed through human conflict? 

In destroying the horses and chariots of the Egyptian army, God was leading the people into a life that was radically different to the one that they had left behind. They were not to build a community based on the oppression of some people for the glorification of the few. They were to build a community that trusted in God, and they would live in the wilderness for 40 years whilst those lessons were learnt. Of course, when they do emerge into Canaan they would do so by force and those living there would be conquered. This is not a simple story of peace and harmony. Human relationships are always messy. And so we pray …

Prayer

Lamb of God you take away the sin of the world

have mercy on us 

Lamb of God you take away the sin of the world

have mercy on us 

Lamb of God you take away the sin of the world

have mercy on us 

Hymn

For the healing of the nations,
Lord, we pray with one accord,
for a just and equal sharing
of the things that earth affords.
To a life of love in action
help us rise and pledge our word.

You, Creator God, have written
your great name on humankind;
for our growing in your likeness
bring the life of Christ to mind;
that by our response and service
earth its destiny may find.

Fred Kaan  (1929- 2009)