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Prayer

 

Loving God
May you be the debate in our faith
the question in our certainty
the uncertainty in our doctrine

May you be the wrestling in our creeds
who invite the challenge
and moves us as much as comfort us.

May you be the question mark in our sentences
the other side of the argument
the ‘what if’ of our certitude

May you always be the one
that invites our faith to grow
evolve
and engage with our world
always the restless one when we settle down

Yet the comfort in our need
the compassion in our world
the presence in our isolation

May you be the imagination in our witness
the beauty in our longing
the pause in our traveling

Always the one who does the opposite
to what we expect or want
that we might always encourage a faith
that is alive to the present
that has words for today
that dares explore this moment
that we might live more fully into the next

May you become the invitation
to live in fresh ways
in this world
The discussion
that seeks all views;
the tension
in living together;
the learning curve
in every new situation;
that we might continually grow
into the diversity and assortment
of your kingdom
your community
your children

May you be our God
and we, your people


 

 

Epilogue
 

Trying playing a 'Dona Nobis' in the background such as the one from Cantus


Dona Nobis Pacem: Grant us peace

Grant us Peace for Syria
For the refugee: for Munir and Sapira

Grant us Peace for Yemen
For the streets of Mosul
For the fields of South Sudan

Grant us Peace for the hungry
in the townships of Zimbabwe
and estates of Britain

Dona Nobis Pacem

And when we cannot understand love
or mix it with politics
of let is shape economy

And when we cannot understand justice
and why it cannot be more simple
and why neighbour is never a priority
Grant us Peace

Dona Nobis Pacem
for the bread and wine
and the community
and the vision
and the possibility
and the start made here
and the beginning begun
and the longing
that is heaven’s own

Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant us Peace

So be it


 

Galatians

                            Galatians 2:11-21

Faith always evolves. Wherever we live that out in the world we are frequently presented with new challenges and questions, as happened with Peter and Paul. What happened in the early church is no different from ourselves and might be more pertinent now than ever before.

Voice A:  Is it all set down?


Voice B:  Every word.
 

Voice A:  Every thought, thought?
 

Voice B:  Yup, all thought out
 

Voice A:  Our whole system of belief clearly worked out?
 

Voice B:  Don’t worry. Nothing has been left to chance.
 

Voice A:  Did you cross the ’t’s and dot the ‘i’s?
 

Voice B:  Stop panicking. Google spell checker has checked everything.

 

Voice A:  What about Brexit?
 

Voice B:  I’ve never heard of that theological position? But

Jesus never mentioned it. It can’t be important.
 

Voice A:  What about Climate Change
 

Voice B:  I’ve told you before, God really doesn’t get involved with the weather.
 

Voice A:  But what about famine in Africa. God has something to say about famine, no?
 

Voice B:  Weeeell, I suppose so. But Jesus never specifically mentioned climate change. We don’t have to concern ourselves.
 


Voice A:  What about nuclear weapons, sexuality, Inter faith dialogue, Global Development…?
 

Voice B:  Again, these aren’t mentioned anywhere in the Bible. Jesus hadn’t even heard the word Nuclear and probably thought the world was flat. So no need to worry.
 


Voice A:  What did Jesus mention?
 

Voice B:  Loving neighbour
 

Voice A:  So he did mention global development
 

Voice B:  Turn the other cheek
 

Voice A:  Nuclear weapons
 

Voice B:  When you cared for the least of these
 

Voice A:  Climate Change
 


Voice B:  But it up for debate about what Jesus meant
 

Voice A:  Exactly
 

Voice B:  The church is in General Assembly discussing these things right now
 

Voice A:  Exactly
 

Voice B:  There is no clear line
 

Voice A:  Exactly
 

Voice B:  Exactly what is it you are saying?
 

Voice A:  That there is no clean line. Faith is the place where everything is debated honestly, lovingly, fully, listening to every side. Sometimes we are Peter and sometimes we are Paul. Faith is the conversation between the two.
 

Voice B:  So should I go and rub out everything we thought we believed.
 

Voice A:  No,  don’t rub it out. Leave it as a mark of where we began our journey.  Following Jesus is the dialogue between the Bible and the World, between Jesus’ words and our own experience between how the world changes and how we find hope, how one person says one thing and another something else. It is how we live in the tension.
 

Voice B:  That’s chaos.
 

Voice A:  No, that’s faith.

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