Kemsing with Woodlands

It’s easy to think that Jesus of Nazareth is fairly unimpressive.

To the unbeliever, he was a man who taught some great things, maybe did some miracles, but whose life was tragically cut short. He didn’t know how to play politics, so his enemies caught up with him.

Even for we Christians. We love Jesus, but it’s hard to feel we do him justice. There must be more to him than it sometimes feels there is.

Why doesn’t everyone follow Jesus?

If Jesus is the person we believe him to be. If Jesus is the person he claimed to be. If Jesus is the person the gospel-writers portray him to be. Then surely everyone would follow him!

He could heal the sick, control the weather, and raise the dead. He could hold vast crowds for hours, spell-bound with his teaching, while the boffins wondered how he hadn’t been to school.

Sure, Jesus could pull a crowd. They loved a miracle But he had precious few followers.

I don’t know what your experience of family is.

Some people have the most wonderful family life. Others have proved all too painfully that you can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family. In fact, maybe some of you feel that family is overrated.

When you get married, you find you’re part of two families, and that can make for even more fun. Join a church, and you’re in another family.

We’re one week into the new year. How are your resolutions coming along?

People plan all kinds of things. Giving up alcohol or chocolate. Getting up earlier. Exercising more. And 101 things that are very specific to you.

There’s one more. Many people plan to give church a bit more of a go in 2017. And maybe you’re one of them.

That’s a good thing. But you want to keep your resolution, so it’s worth thinking about why so many people choose not to follow Jesus.

Apparently Christmas has been hijacked.

It’s supposed to be about the birth of Jesus. It’s become all about giving presents.

I’m the vicar. I’m supposed to tell people to focus less on the presents, and more on the real meaning of Christmas.

I’m not going to do that! Because the real meaning of Christmas is all about giving presents. In fact, the more you grasp what Christmas is really about, the more you’ll want to give things to other people.

Where in the world would you most like to visit? The Grand Canyon? South Africa? Everest base camp?

And where in the world do you most care about? Perhaps it’s Kemsing? Or the village where you were born? The place your parents live and brought you up? A country you used to work in as an expat?

Two questions about geography: Where would you most like to visit? About which place’s wellbeing do you most care?

Life can be extremely painful. You don’t need me to tell you that. Life is full of difficulty.

All of us face challenges and difficulties. Sometimes massive. Sometimes smaller. But we’ve all stood and looked into the week ahead, or the year ahead, and thought to ourselves: This is going to be a tough one. Who’s going to get me through?

Who would you like to have a meal with? Sit down. Eat. Chat.

Last May, a photo was circulating. It showed Barack Obama having a casual dinner with a TV chef. They were in a run-of-the-mill diner in Hanoi, and it cost $6. The reason the photo went viral was because the other diners seemed totally unfazed by the President of the United States of America sat at the next table.

Which of us is not drawn by the desire to be fully alive? To experience life to the full? Not to be missing out on the best that life has to offer?

We all want it. It’s why people party. Take exotic holidays. Climb to the top of the mountain. Swim to the bottom of the ocean. We all want life, with a capital L.

For our combined services we’ve started looking together at one chapter of the Bible, John chapter 17. We only join together like this 4 times a year, and I think we’ll be in this chapter for some time.

Being excluded feels horrible.

Children in the playground, deliberately leaving out a child they don’t like. A group of work colleagues going out for a drink, deliberately not telling one of their number where they’re going.

Even worse is religious exclusion. Being told that you’re not a proper Christian, not a true member of the people of God. If you care about God and his purposes, that hurts.