Welcome to the
North Wiltshire Methodist Circuit
Welcome to April!
It begins, of course, with April Fool’s Day – and I
have played one or two pranks in my time! Decades ago, when it fell on a
Sunday, and our monthly church magazine came out on that day, I wrote an
article attempting to convince the readers that two centuries previously a
Methodist had actually been elected Pope!
In my teaching days I once sent the School Secretary (very temporarily!)
into a state of frenzied delirium when I informed her that the speaker at that
day’s Christian Union meeting was to be the Archbishop of Canterbury, and we
had to make special arrangements! As a booklover, I have occasionally
publicized a list of books which could be borrowed from my “Theological
Library” – with titles such as “The Declining Church” by Rose O Femmtipuse and
“Preparing for Eternity” by Evan Skawling.
This year April 1st is in the holiest week
of the year – falling on the day before Maundy Thursday. Is there any
connection between the jolly japes of All Fools’ Day and the solemn events and
observances which follow? Well, to some extent there is. Read on to find out!
In Paul’s first Letter to the Christians at Corinth
(chapter 4 verse 10) he writes of himself, and other followers of Jesus, as
being “fools for Christ”. Earlier in the letter (chapter 1 verse 18) he writes
“The message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing” (i.e.
those who deliberately and repeatedly turn their backs on God’s love and offer
of forgiveness and new life). Why is the message of the Cross foolish? Through the Cross we see God’s love – sheer,
unconditional love – for the whole world: God becoming fully human in Jesus,
and in some mysterious, inexplicable, glorious way bearing in his own body all
our wrong, all our pride, selfishness and sinfulness, and all our acts of
rebellion, so that we could be completely set free from them, and enjoy the
relationship with God the Father for which we were created. The Bible writers
refer to this as “eternal life” – life in all its fullness from God himself,
which begins in this life at the moment we truly say “Yes” to Jesus and
continues – with glory heaped upon glory- into the next.
To say “I am assured of Heaven because a 33 year old
man from a Roman backwater suffered an agonizing death two millennia ago” certainly sounds foolish at first sight! It
is truly a mystery – we cannot comprehend it. But what if the mind could fathom
it? It would mean that the most
intellectual and academic among us would be at a strong advantage when it came
to receiving the love and salvation of God. The opposite would appear to be
true! In 1 Corinthians 1:27 Paul writes “God chose the foolish things of this
world to shame the wise”. This is why the most gifted theologian, attempting to
penetrate the deep things of God using their own mind alone, can look at the
Cross and be utterly bewildered, whilst a completely illiterate person can
truly say, with cheerful, radiant face, “I am free now. I know deep in my heart
that Jesus died for me.” We are truly equal a the foot of the Cross: as indeed
we are around the Lord’s Table sharing Holy Communion.
In our secular age, a fair number of our leading
politicians are atheists: they also realise that many in the electorate are
not, and they need their votes! So they may say things such as “I have no
personal belief in any god, but I do admire the teachings of the Bible”. I
chuckle when I hear such statements: the teachings of the Bible include such
verses as Psalm 14 verse 1 – “The fool says in his heart, there is no God”. They are actually referring to themselves as
fools!
I’m happy to be a fool for Christ. Whose fool are you?
Geoff Floyd
Welcome to the
North Wiltshire Methodist Circuit
Welcome to April!
It begins, of course, with April Fool’s Day – and I have played one or two pranks in my time! Decades ago, when it fell on a Sunday, and our monthly church magazine came out on that day, I wrote an article attempting to convince the readers that two centuries previously a Methodist had actually been elected Pope! In my teaching days I once sent the School Secretary (very temporarily!) into a state of frenzied delirium when I informed her that the speaker at that day’s Christian Union meeting was to be the Archbishop of Canterbury, and we had to make special arrangements! As a booklover, I have occasionally publicized a list of books which could be borrowed from my “Theological Library” – with titles such as “The Declining Church” by Rose O Femmtipuse and “Preparing for Eternity” by Evan Skawling.
This year April 1st is in the holiest week of the year – falling on the day before Maundy Thursday. Is there any connection between the jolly japes of All Fools’ Day and the solemn events and observances which follow? Well, to some extent there is. Read on to find out!
In Paul’s first Letter to the Christians at Corinth (chapter 4 verse 10) he writes of himself, and other followers of Jesus, as being “fools for Christ”. Earlier in the letter (chapter 1 verse 18) he writes “The message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing” (i.e. those who deliberately and repeatedly turn their backs on God’s love and offer of forgiveness and new life). Why is the message of the Cross foolish? Through the Cross we see God’s love – sheer, unconditional love – for the whole world: God becoming fully human in Jesus, and in some mysterious, inexplicable, glorious way bearing in his own body all our wrong, all our pride, selfishness and sinfulness, and all our acts of rebellion, so that we could be completely set free from them, and enjoy the relationship with God the Father for which we were created. The Bible writers refer to this as “eternal life” – life in all its fullness from God himself, which begins in this life at the moment we truly say “Yes” to Jesus and continues – with glory heaped upon glory- into the next.
To say “I am assured of Heaven because a 33 year old man from a Roman backwater suffered an agonizing death two millennia ago” certainly sounds foolish at first sight! It is truly a mystery – we cannot comprehend it. But what if the mind could fathom it? It would mean that the most intellectual and academic among us would be at a strong advantage when it came to receiving the love and salvation of God. The opposite would appear to be true! In 1 Corinthians 1:27 Paul writes “God chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise”. This is why the most gifted theologian, attempting to penetrate the deep things of God using their own mind alone, can look at the Cross and be utterly bewildered, whilst a completely illiterate person can truly say, with cheerful, radiant face, “I am free now. I know deep in my heart that Jesus died for me.” We are truly equal a the foot of the Cross: as indeed we are around the Lord’s Table sharing Holy Communion.
In our secular age, a fair number of our leading politicians are atheists: they also realise that many in the electorate are not, and they need their votes! So they may say things such as “I have no personal belief in any god, but I do admire the teachings of the Bible”. I chuckle when I hear such statements: the teachings of the Bible include such verses as Psalm 14 verse 1 – “The fool says in his heart, there is no God”. They are actually referring to themselves as fools!
I’m happy to be a fool for Christ. Whose fool are you?
Geoff Floyd