Life in the Real World

I think most of you will have picked up on the fact that today we're celebrating Harvest Thanksgiving.

And it reminds me to thank those of you who brought goods which are behind me now, stacked up on the stage here.

And just to let you know that they will be distributed between Andrew House and also the Clevedon Food Bank.

So what you see here will go to help those who are going through a difficult time in their lives.

And those gifts go with our love and our prayers to Andrew House and to the Clevedon Food Bank.

Before I preach, let's just bow our heads and pray together.

Our gracious Father, we thank you for your most gracious provision.

Lord, we thank you for the food that we have to eat and the drink that we have to drink.

And Lord, we pray for those who for whatever reasons either have no food nor drink.

And we pray that our gifts may nourish them.

But Father too, we thank you for the provision of your word.

And we thank you for the provision of your word.

And we thank you, Father, that your word is truth.

And we pray, Lord, that as we sit together now,

so you would send your spirit upon your people gathered.

Lord, help us to discern your truth.

And Lord, may your truth set us free to be the people you call us to be

in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

I want to preach on a verse from the reading that Suzanne just read to us.

Jesus said to the man who he had here,

What do you see?

He looked up and said, I see people.

They look like trees walking around.

Once more, Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes.

Then his eyes were opened.

I don't know whether it crossed your mind as we sang earlier,

lustily, we plough the fields and scatter.

But I wonder what, if a Martian arrived on earth and came to church,

and for the sake of poetic license, let's pretend that he understood English,

or that via nanotechnology managed to download Google Translator into his brain,

what would he make of it?

What would he make of a bunch of suburban people,

most of us, I guess, didn't make our money from agriculture,

singing hymns like that?

We plough the fields and scatter.

Well, we don't.

And it struck me that what the Martian might conclude is

that we'd lost touch with reality somehow.

Back in the annals of history,

Karl Marx, who is attributed to be the founder of socialism and communism,

wrote this, he said,

religion is the sigh of an oppressed people,

the heart of a heartless world.

And then he said,

it is the opium of the people.

What did he mean by that?

Well, what Marx meant was,

he looked at the world around him to kind of people.

And he thought that religion for them was like opium.

It was something that transported them away from reality.

Of course, in the mind of Karl Marx,

reality was the class struggle.

But did he have a point?

Is there any way that you could look at the faith

which we espouse in the 21st century

and conclude that we gather together

to communally stop facing up to reality?

That's a very big question.

And today, reality is really up for grabs.

A lot of contemporary philosophers

are writing around the theme,

what is reality?

Well, reality is the state of things

as they actually exist.

They're not about a notion or an idea.

It's about what we agree

is in front of us, is real.

You can tell there's a crisis of reality.

Does anybody remember David Icke?

He used to be the guy

who kind of anchored Grandstand on BBC television.

I think most of you will remember that.

David Icke, in an interview,

described himself as the son of God

and then went on to say

that the global elite,

that is our politicians

and in this country our royal family,

are basically large amphibious creatures

who are able to take on human form

and their habits are child sacrifice

and drinking blood.

Now, would you say

David Icke was in touch with reality?

Somebody say no for crying out loud.

Look, here's the thing.

He has two million followers

who believe that.

Two million people

who seem to have lost all touch

with reality.

Marx accused us,

us people who would claim faith,

that we had this weird notion

that somehow by coming together

and worshipping God,

we could avoid reality.

Let me give you two examples

why today somebody might look

at the Church of God,

the Church of England in particular,

and think that it has no connection

with reality.

In 1967,

a man called Leslie Paul

wrote an epic report

for the Church of England.

In it, one of the things he said,

he said many things,

but one of the things he said was

the idea of a paid clergy person

in every parish up and down this land,

trained, pensioned,

and given a stipend,

was untenable into the future.

The House of Bishops gave it

about 45 seconds airtime

at their meeting

and dismissed the whole thing.

And pretty well,

through to the mid-80s,

continued to deny the reality

of what Leslie Paul

was writing about

with the effect now

that churches up and down

this country

are mostly collections

of parishes.

I mean,

we are extremely blessed

in Christ's Church

that whoever becomes

the vicar of Christ's Church

has only this church

to look after

and this parish.

You only need to go down the road

to find a clergy

of responsibility

for six parishes

or seven parishes.

In other words,

the only way

that the bishops

and the general synod

of the Church of England

could imagine

that the church

could be made tenable

was by giving people jobs

that actually aren't that possible.

What do you say?

They ignored the reality

of Leslie Paul's report.

Let me bring it

a little closer to home.

All over the church,

not just the Church of England,

there are parents

who truly lament

the fact

that their children

have rejected

the faith

that they hold.

You know that's true.

Some of you

have a dull ache

in your heart

because your children

rejected

the faith

that is yours.

It is really painful

and I wish there were time

to go into it

this morning,

but what I do want to say

to you very clearly is

it very likely

is not your fault.

There are other pressures

on our children,

always peer group pressure.

I often think to myself,

you know,

I thank God

that I was converted

to the Christian faith.

You know,

when your kids were young,

there was always one kid

that you never wanted

your kids to play with.

And my mum,

you know,

imagined that

there were people

who she didn't want

me to play with

except that

everybody else's parents,

I was the kid

that everybody else's parents

thought they shouldn't

play with.

Peer group pressure

is huge

and today

pray for our parents,

friends,

because they have

a terribly difficult job.

why social media,

which is

peer group pressure

on speed.

It is horrible,

it is a scourge.

Maybe some of you

saw the documentary

on BBC television

this last week

about the disappearance

of Nicola Bulley.

You may remember

that she was this

lady who took

her dog for a walk

and disappeared

completely.

And

they discovered

that she'd gone missing

when her dog

turned up

at the kids' school

and then they found

her mobile phone

on a bench.

The police

invested huge amounts

of money

in a professional search,

diving teams,

you name it.

They could not find her

for three weeks.

During that time,

social media sleuths

travelled up to

near Preston

to a village

called Inskip,

walked along

the banks of the river,

got in the way

of the police investigation

and then went

on social media

and promulgated

the most foul

rumours imaginable.

Many of them

writing to the husband

who had a cast-iron

alibi

as to why he couldn't

have pushed his wife

in or drowned her.

People are writing

to him saying,

we know what you did.

Whatever good

there can be

in social media,

every day

people's lives

are being wrecked

by it.

And we should

take notice of that.

I mean,

God bless Jonathan Haidt

for writing his book,

Warning of the Dangers

of Exposing Our Children

to Social Media

at Too Young an Age.

In other words,

exposing them

to social media

because in developing

brains,

it can rewire

the circuitry

of our brains.

The poor report

our unwillingness

to face

the reality

together

of our children

who reject

our faith.

faith.

And the

reality

becomes very obscure.

So I want to say

to you very briefly

just three things

about that.

The first is,

God

is ultimate

reality.

reality.

And it's the

starting point

for any

Christian believer.

We're not big

on saying

creeds

in our church,

but interestingly,

the first two words

of the creeds

are,

we believe.

Not a notion,

not an idea,

but stated

as an objective

fact.

The fact that

Jesus,

who was the

Son of God,

in John's

Gospel,

said stuff like,

I am the

way,

the truth,

and life.

That is the

God that

Jesus reveals

to us.

Everything I

am,

everything I

ever will be,

everything I

have,

is a gift

from God.

And on this

harvest

Thanksgiving

day,

remembering that

won't do

any of us

any harm.

nothing can

be more

real than

God.

Nothing can

be more

true than

God.

But the

problem is,

this is not

deducible

knowledge,

it is

revealed

knowledge.

When Ian

Ramsey wrote

his massive

book,

I don't

recommend it

to you,

I think

it's 790

pages,

Bishop of

Durham,

Ian Ramsey,

wrote a book

called

Religious

Language.

He speculated

four chapters

on the

writings of

philosophers of

language like

Wittgenstein and

these people,

but in the

end,

he summed it

down into

one small

phrase.

He says,

when the

penny drops,

when our

eyes are

opened,

and we

see God

for who

he is.

Norwegian

Roman Catholic

Bishop,

Erik

Vada,

I think

his name

is,

talks about

his conversion

to the

faith,

which wasn't

like a

kind of

classic

evangelical

conversion,

it was

that he

suddenly

realized

that only

God could

explain the

totality

of the

created

world.

His eyes

were opened,

as you

might say.

I met

a man

last Friday

who was a

pastor of

a Baptist

church in

Bristol.

I was in

Bristol for

14 years,

I promise

you,

I had never

heard of

this church.

It was

brought to

my attention

when I went

to the

praying for

Clevedon

meeting,

and this

guy who's a

pastor there

turned up

because he

lives in

Clevedon,

and feels

a burden

for the

town.

He told

me that

in their

church,

they were a

small Baptist

church,

had 40

members,

on a

faceless

estate called

Hillfield,

which I

confess I

had never

heard of.

I think

the only

public

building

on this

estate

was the

church.

And they

thought to

themselves,

well,

with 40

people,

what can

we do?

And they

decided

that they

would focus

entirely on

God.

So what

did they

do?

They

stopped all

their weekly

activities,

they stopped

all the

home groups,

they stopped

everything,

and they

met together

for a time

of worship

and prayer.

He said

the impact

was amazing.

People's

eyes were

opened to

a new

revelation

of God.

we might

agree that

the church

today requires

a reformation

or a reset

or a revival.

But I

wonder if

anything like

that will be

preceded by a

renewed vision

of God and

who He is.

R.A.

Torrey said

once,

off-quoted by

David Watson,

he loved this

quote,

R.A.

Torrey said,

if God

decided to

withdraw the

Holy Spirit

from the

church,

95% of

what we do

would continue

as normal.

Does that

sound like

it could be

focused on

God?

I'm just

asking the

question.

What might

happen if

those of us

who are

half-hearted,

those of us

who mean

well,

those of us

who would

like to be

a little

better thought

of in our

walk with

God?

What would

happen if we

focused on

God?

What would

happen if our

eyes were

open and we

saw things as

God sees them

and we saw

God as God

is?

My second

point is,

first point is

God is

ultimate

reality.

Second point

is,

faith is

seeing.

In Mark

Mark 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6,

I beg your

pardon,

in Mark

Mark 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8,

we read of

the healing

of this man

who was

touched by

Jesus,

and Jesus

said,

you know,

is that okay?

What are you

looking at?

He said,

I'm looking,

people look

like trees

to me.

So Jesus

put his

hand on him

again,

and his

vision was

cleared,

and he

saw again,

and knew

about the

power of

God on

his life.

The guy

at Hillfield

told me,

they weren't

particularly

looking for

this,

but when

they refocused

on God,

people started

to get

healed.

People who

had long

term problems

came to

their worship

meetings,

there's no

big deal

of,

you know,

some

hysterical

preacher at

the front

trying to

knock them

over,

or whatever.

People

began to

be healed.

Many,

many years

ago,

God gave

me this

vision of

the church

as a place

where people

should be

healed.

I didn't

mean by

that,

that I'd

stand at

the front

historically

trying to,

you know,

pull people's

arms along

or anything

like that.

No,

what I thought

would happen

would be.

Just by

being the

people of

God

together

would be

a healing

experience

for people

who came

to it.

I still

have that

vision.

And we

need the

help of

the Holy

Spirit

to live

as though

we believe

in the

amazing

power,

personality,

being of

God.

We won't

do that

on our

own.

You

remember in

Luke 24

after the

resurrection,

Jesus is

walking with

some of the

disciples who

hung out with

him for at

least three

years before

he ascended

into heaven.

And they

didn't

recognize him.

And Jesus

said,

come on,

let's eat,

I mean,

I'm paraphrasing,

let's eat

breakfast together.

And he

broke some

bread and

in that

moment,

it says

their eyes

were open

and they

recognized who

it was.

Not a dead

corpse in some

cave in

Israel,

no.

A living

man who

had come

back from

the dead.

let me ask

you this,

do your

eyes need

to be

opened?

Do you

feel you

need a

second touch

from God?

That you

might understand

the amazing

reality that

is God.

Everything I

am,

everything I

ever will

be,

everything I

have is a

gift from

him.

Their eyes

were opened.

And you

know what?

I've

discovered

that when

your eyes

are open,

you don't

just see

God

differently,

you start

looking at

other people

differently.

Luke chapter

Luke 19 · chapter mention

19 is the

story of

Zacchaeus,

you remember

that,

the funny

little hated

tax collector

who climbed

in a tree

to see

Jesus.

Anybody

in that

population

that were

gathered around

there would

have loved

to find

an excuse

to kill

him.

But Jesus

saw something

in Zacchaeus

that no

other human

being had

observed.

I like to

think he

looked at

Zacchaeus

and saw

what Zacchaeus

could be.

And do you

know what?

That's the

way Jesus

looks at

you.

And that's

the way Jesus

wants you to

look at other

people.

What could

they be?

not what

are they

like now.

We'll face

the reality

of that,

but let's

try and

imagine with

the help

of the Holy

Spirit what

they could

be in

Jesus Christ.

Imagine how

your life

would be

different if

you put

those spectacles

on and

started looking

at people

in that

light.

I mean,

it probably

would help

for some

of you if

you started

looking at

your spouse

in that

light.

Not what

they are,

what they

could become.

Many

spiritual

writers have

written,

I suppose in

the early

days of my

Christian faith,

it confused

me.

They're talking

about having

faith helps

you see.

I now know

what they're

talking about.

And finally,

God and

the whole

creation,

the Psalms,

repeat,

especially the

Psalms towards

the end of

the Psalter.

reminders of

the creative

power of

God.

It starts in

Genesis chapter

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

1.

It goes through

the New

Testament.

It goes to

Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 11 · chapter mention

11.

Remember that

it's not just

us who will be

saved at the

end of time,

it will be the

whole of

creation.

And Isaiah

has this amazing

vision,

doesn't he,

of lions lying

down with

lambs.

I mean,

as far as I

can see,

I've seen

lions in the

wild.

It's going

to take a lot

for them to

become vegetarians,

to be honest.

Look,

this is the

work of

salvation

that God

wants to

bring to

the world.

Not just

your life,

but certainly

your life,

but the

whole of

creation.

In Romans

Romans 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1,

Paul's looking

at a society

that's losing

touch with

God.

And he

writes these

remarkable

words.

Romans

Romans 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1,

give me one

second to

find it.

Two seconds.

this is what

he says.

The wrath of

God is being

revealed from

heaven against

all the

godlessness and

wickedness of

men who

suppress the

truth by their

wickedness.

I mean,

that's another

sermon,

isn't it?

Truth being

suppressed by

human wickedness.

Since,

this is what he

says,

since what

may be known

about God

is plain to

them,

because God

has made it

plain to

them.

For since

the creation

of the

world,

God's

invisible

qualities,

his eternal

power and

divine nature

have been

clearly seen,

being understood

from what he

has made.

So that

men,

women,

are without

excuse.

Have you

ever,

you may be

a kind of

artistic type

and,

you know,

you've sat

on the

veranda of

your house

or on the

balcony of

your hotel

and there's

a lovely

calm sea in

front of you

and the

sun's going

down and

suddenly God

becomes very

viable in

your mind and

people will

talk about how

the world kind

of helps them

connect with

God.

Well,

that's a bit

like Paul is

talking about

here.

It gives a

reason why

people see

something bigger

than the

creation in

front of them

when they

wonder at

it.

But that

in itself

won't save

you,

my friend.

As I

said,

we might

agree that

the church

needs a

reset,

a reformation,

a revival,

whatever word

we like to

put on it.

But maybe

first,

it needs a

fresh revelation

of God.

Jesus

said,

I am

the way,

the truth,

God,

and life.

Is it

possible

that ordinary

people like

you and me

could recapture

a vision of

God that

would bring

life to

us and

to our

church?

And I

think this

works best if

we do it

together as a

matter of

fact.

you might

today like

to ask God

for a second

touch on

your life,

that your

vision might

be restored

and you

might truly

see the

living God

who created

the heavens

and the

earth and

all that

was in it.

and if

that

Martian

had shown

up here,

would even

have created

that

Martian

with its

advanced

language

skills.

Is this

a moment?

Is this

a moment

when the

Holy Spirit

might be

whispering in

your ear

saying,

come on,

wake up,

open your

eyes,

eyes.

I love

stories like

the

Hillfield

Baptist

church

story,

because in

a sense

something

happened that

wasn't down

to their

effort.

All they

did was

worship and

wait on

God.

And maybe

in the end,

there's

something in

there.

Let's pray

together.

Our

gracious

Father,

there are

people in

the house

today who

are going

through really

difficult

times.

Lord,

people who,

from a human

point of view,

can't see a

way through

it.

They're

hanging on to

you,

Father,

but they

cannot see

what could

be.

Lord,

would you

please

give us

together a

fresh second

touch,

church,

that our

vision might

be restored,

that our

eyes may be

opened,

that your

church may

wake up

and bring

life to

those around

us.

Come,

Holy Spirit,

set our

hearts on

fire with

love for

God, the

ultimate

reality, the

one of whom

it can be

said,

there can

be nothing

true than

him who

made the

heavens and

the earth

and all

that is in

it, you

and me.

Inspire us,

Lord, we

pray in

Jesus' name

and the

people who

agreed.

Said

together,

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.