(All our songs this morning are from Singing the Faith (StF) numbers will be given where available)
Welcome to our Sunday Service, today shared on paper across our circuit and with the congregation at Allerton Methodist Church led by Mervyn Flecknoe one of our Circuit Local Preachers and Lay Pastor at Baildon Methodist Church.
Click on the blue links to follow them for bible readings and associated links
Welcome, friends, to this reflection about our Christian Calling it’s all about falling, and then rising again. I have had lots of falls when I was drystone walling, or riding my motorbike on snow and ice. It isn’t nice.
The cause of these falls is not mysterious, they have not been serious. My wife could have predicted them all. I should, perhaps, have listened more. All falls hurt but, each time, I was lucky. It’s not a matter of being plucky it’s simply that you can’t do anything lying down. I got back on my feet rather than drowning in sorrow being ready for whatever tomorrow may bring. Just lying there and not getting up would not have been helpful at all.
You may have heard that young people fall, but older people might “have a fall”, a serious incident, sometimes coincident with long-term harm; a real cause for alarm.
In Genesis, we read creation stories of the Earth, of the birth of Adam and of Eve, and of why they had to leave the earthly paradise. We call it the fall from grace.
In the newspaper, in a space between celebrity divorces, and the actions of Russian forces in Ukraine, I read that the richest 1% of humanity creates more pollution than the poorest 66%. A cause for revolution if ever I did hear one. Also, the best paid bosses made more money by midday Wednesday January 8th than average joe in a year of workdays. That is some fall from grace, isn’t it? That’s humanity falling flat on its face. More “fall down” rather than “Trickle down”. I, too, at times in my life have “Had a fall”; Not a physical falling, but a serious, fall from grace.
When others have been hurt, or not saved from harm. Afterwards, when I’m calm, I think of the time they took place, I hide my face, in shame. The choice is, to get up; continue to play the game, Or to lie there and gradually go insane with misery. But God forgives us all equally just the same if we can only find forgiveness for ourselves, instead of blame.
I can think of times when the church, helped me to search for guidance & the assistance of the Spirit of Jesus. Who sees us just as we are, from his personal experience, and not from afar. Falling hurts, but we take it one day at a time. Today, I am going to be kind; Today, I’ll improve a fallen friend’s broken mind; Today, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I will do my bit to better mankind, I will be a child of God. Today.
Prayer
Lord of hope and life and renewal, we pray each day, for strength to get back up when we fall, so that we may finish the work you have for us all here. Amen
So, let’s begin on a positive note. Note the first line of this hymn by Fred Pratt Green, sometime minister at Girlington, arguably the most relevant Methodist hymnwriter since Charles Wesley, with its emphasis on a need for a constant renewal, every day.
Song – StF 388 – Let every Christian pray this day, and every day, come, Holy Spirit, Come!
Bible Reading 1 Proverbs 28:10-14
Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way, He himself will fall into his own pit;
But the blameless will inherit good. The rich man is wise in his own eyes, but the poor who has understanding searches him out. When the righteous rejoice, there is great glory; but when the wicked arise, men hide themselves. He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Happy is the man who is always reverent, but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
Meditation 1 A meditation on Falling
We sometimes use words as though they each cost a lot to say. So, we use short words, and not long Latin arrays. We cut short the strings of thought give words many meanings, ideas and leanings. Take the word “Fall” for example, I’ll give you a sample:
I can fall from grace, fall apart at the seams, I can seem to totally lack the means to follow the Lord and to carry his sword. I can fall flat on my face; me, a disgrace to the whole human race. I can fall into despair when my words fall on stony ground; and, when they fall on deaf ears I resoundingly fall right into my fears. Recrimination sears my soul as I abandon my goals. When I fall out with my friends, and with those who support me, I can fall in with a bad crowd instead, assuming the shroud of night, to no longer delight in the right and the just. I must understand that united we stand and divided we fall. Salvation is all about finishing the race after hitting that wall. But I can also fall about laughing, choreographing a friendship by sharing a joke, or invoking the memories of happier times and folk.
Sometimes, I can fall back on a skill learned in the past, to fall on my feet. I can greet success and defeat as sweet treats in a life where heartbeats are precious before finally falling asleep. And, best of all, I can fall… in love, and achieve so much more in a partnership with one here below, Or with the Spirit above. Every day.
Song – StF 395 – Spirit of the Living God fall afresh on me
Before we pray, please take a moment to think of just one action you would wish to go back to and to change in the last week. An action that has hurt, or that refused to help, a fallen friend. Maybe a word, maybe a credit card transaction. I have asked for one verse of the last hymn, to allow you time to think.
Prayer
A prayer for Forgiveness
Once we stop trying to convince
Ourselves and you, Our Prince of Peace,
That we have no sin within us, Our frailty will cease, and we win at last.
These are our strengths. There are no lengths denied to us
When we have lost our pride To take up our mission right by your side
And in your love abide. So, we ask forgiveness of you,
And of those whom we offend here too,
We wish to reverse our fall from grace
To take our place In your embrace. We ask for your forgiveness, Lord,
We’re taking you at your word. Amen
Video If you have access to a smartphone, have a look at this video of a child learning to walk
Meditation 2
Why does this child want to walk? She learns to talk because she hears adults talking. He learns to walk because he sees adults walking. The child thinks: “This is what will make me human there is no future, no success in this world for wordless babes in arms, whatever their charms”.
We must harden our resolve, not let it soften we can’t learn to walk without falling quite often we can’t sound alarms or go off in a paddy go crying to Daddy. Walking and talking are not just pastimes. This is real life, not just a pantomime. Can we strive to become just a little more divine? Instead of a selfish little ball of slime? Especially when we are feeling bad, like a cad, every time we fall off the cart.
It’s easier not to try of course, not to break our own hearts over every failure when we start to emulate the saints we meet at church. When we fall from our perch, we can recover with the help of those saints, and of the Holy Spirit falling on us when we call for help, in our hymns and prayers, talking example, maybe from our forebears, whose memory prepares us to overcome it all and try again.
We, like infants, must always be learning new skills. To find ways to connect to each new friend we detect, to select a way that fulfils our desire to reflect the ways of our Lord. In each new situation we should strive to find an application of love that smooths out a path to salvation for everyone; An affirmation of our living above selfish desires, a celebration of our desire for perfection. The Spirit of Jesus can become like an infection. Each time we take a new decision, we stand the chance of getting it wrong and this is a lifelong situation. Error is part of trying, for the duration of our lives here below.
The Christian life involves falling and failing, mistakes are prevailing whenever we’re trying, but getting up from our falls is so satisfying. To live is to change, we need to exchange our ideas about falling and understand that getting up again is a part of our calling. Every day.
Let’s reflect…
What new people, what new situations have we met this last week? What new people, what new situations, do we expect to meet this coming week? I have asked Chris just to play again one verse of the last hymn, to allow you time to think.
Song – StF 424 – God forgave my sin in Jesus’ name
Meditation 3
When a child learns to walk, she learns to trust. Each forward movement, each tiny thrust of tiny leg needs her to fall forward, and then, robustly, to recover, not to beg for help. When fell race aspirants, desiring to rise higher in race ratings, train themselves to skip more quickly over streams and rocks, they experience, not only cold and soaking socks, but also tumbles, grazing knees, sometimes a sprain. More soaking, as they hurry on through wind and rain. Those who give up, who throw in the towel, who howl their pain, and who return to comfort, having trained in vain are congratulated by friends on being sane, but they win no competitions because they failed to meet the preconditions of triumphing over onerous mountainous expeditions. Likewise, the Christian life involves us falling off the wagon of our calling. And as we lie, tripped up and sprawling we learn to rise again. Every day.
Prayer
A prayer for resilience
We pray, Lord, for the Holy Spirit to fall on us to enable us, every day, To try to live the Spirit’s way we pray that we will not give up. A fall from grace is not the end. It would be just brilliant If you would send to us your Holy Spirit to render us resilient. We pray for all those who might benefit if we were the people who do not quit but truly commit and to your will submit; to permit your Spirit to raise us up to shine and spread like golden buttercups. Every day. Amen
Song – StF 398 – There’s a spirit in the air telling Christians everywhere
Mediation 4
Jesus tells us things we knew; that if crops, each year, are to renew, their seeds must fall on fertile ground and, although they have no discernible IQ their seedlings still emerge through decorative paved surrounds, laid at great expense, and which we considered sound, all just to come into the light, where photons from the sun supply the energy to complete the growth the seed begun in growing heavenward.
Falling to the ground was the essential key. Had the seed stayed safe and dry Within the sower’s bucket refusing all attempts to let him chuck it Into the soil, that would be just as unproductive as wrapping it in aluminium foil, or clingfilm. Likewise, if we are to become true disciples vanquishing the devil, like St Michaels’ statue in Coventry cathedral, multifaceted Christians, polyhedral warriors, taking the lesson of this parable, we should be getting right down there in the dirty, and the arable. Every day.
Reading:
Meditation 5
We distinguish, in English, between things which happened just once when We say: “It happened.” is that how we think of the Holy Spirit? It happened once and that is it? Then, there are things which happened many times in the past; we say: “It used to happen” but the Spirit didn’t last; it’s not there now.
Or there are things which happen unpredictably. We say: “It happens”, and we lonely plough the furrow of our lives as we await. We relinquish any chance we had to narrate our own story, or to change the state of our own territory. Best of all, in English, we can express the thought that it is still happening We say: “It is happening” Now! So, for you, how does the Holy Spirit descend? Maybe it happened once in Bible times, what? That was the end? Or many times, but to other people, in the past? It didn’t last, we can’t pretend it happens now.
Or, Unpredictably? We can’t tell how, or when; Just like an earthquake perhaps, giving us plenty of excuse, between the tremors, to relapse, to fall right into errors, to experience the terrors of a life which passes with no purpose but for self. Or can let the Spirit fall our way, every day, all the time? We just have to ask. Have you been saved? That’s a question I find difficult. Have you been saved, today, from falling? Now, that’s the mainstay of our calling that’s what I call a result! Helping me to become one of God’s adults Every day.
Prayer
This is a prayer of thanks, Lord.
Thanks for our health and strength such as it is; thanks for our wealth, such as it is; we remember that our health is better than most people’s of our age and our wealth is far greater than the wealth of most people anywhere. We thank you for the generosity of those whose contributions of time, money, and expertise keep this church afloat, and enable it to be of such value to the community and to those charitable causes which it supports.
Please help us understand that it is not what we give away that we need to justify, it is what we spend on our own comfort. Amen
The Lord’s prayer
Song – StF 397 – The Spirit lives to set us free, walk, walk in the light
So, from today, let’s try everyday to follow the Christian way. We will fall, we are in this for the long haul, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will overcome it all.
The Grace
