Gone

Where are your ancestors now? (Zechariah 1:5)

Well, dead, really. I mean what else can we say. Two certainties in life are death and taxes, as one whit wrote. But I don't think that what he means. It is more like, where are the results of their lives? What is their legacy? And the answer is: lying in dust and ashes. The nation they built has been decimated and desecrated. All they did is gone.

I wonder if, after all the hype and hope of the leaders of the Church of England, this will be the prophetic word to them in 30 years time. All churches that have taken a similar decision, all those leaders that have taken their flock down this route, all, worldwide, are, slowly but surely, disappearing. 

Congregations shrinking, buildings closing, some due to inherited wealth holding on, others less fortunate going faster. Maybe someone has already come to a them and said 'Where are your ancestors now?' If not, don't hold your breath.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

War

Image
And they reported to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, ‘We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.’ (1:11) Now that's odd. I can't imagine that there has been a time in history when the world was all at rest and in peace. Even Jesus, the prince of peace, promises 'wars and rumours of wars'. So what's going on? Honestly, I've no idea. Is the whole earth the whole known earth maybe? The flood story feels that way so why not this one. Or is it a time of much smaller population when the whole earth could be at peace? That seems a little more likely. A wave of conquest by a great power is followed by a time of calm before the next wave.  In either case it is yet another example of how absurd is the idea that religion causes wars (I mean - the most deadly wars in history had nothing religious about them at all). Human beings in greed or pride or fear or folly cause wars. They may blame religion or use...
Read more

Blinded

The LORD was very angry with your forefathers (Zechariah 1v2) It seems it is the LORD we need to deal with, not our ancestors. They were held responsible for their own actions and we are responsible for ours. To start making reparations for the actions of our predecessors is stepping into God's territory, mistaken at best, at worse pride and folly. It is far too easy to be alert to the sins of the past and entirely blind to the sins of the present.  I am willing to bet that those who gave money to the Church that was earned by slavery thought that they were doing a good thing, and had a blind spot to their own sins, as a result of their own society. Instead of trying to make good their mistake, maybe we should be looking at ourselves and asking what is our blind spot, where are we caught up by culture. Where are we following the crowd rather than listening to God?
Read more

Dream

Image
During the night I had a vision (Zechariah 1:8) Well, oddly, so did I. The difference is that mine was a waking dream. I know it doesn't really count but it did involve some weird and uncomfortable images: a very steep narrow stairwell, a child made out of sticks, and a life-threatening fall. I reckon the stairwell came from our Istanbul trip, but the others were more likely related to sending my eldest lad off to far flung countries today.  I wonder where Zechariah's arose. The local trees coming into bloom maybe, the warriors going out to battle and the horrors of exile in a foreign land. Wherever they came from, it seems clear that God was using them to speak both to the people at the time and to us.  And mine? Well I suspect it's more reminder than warning. 'Know that saying goodbye really does stretch your faith, even if you don't feel it on the surface - put your son in my hands for I am ready to save, not just now but each day. And the stick boy? No idea - I...
Read more