Weekly Blog 

Here our minister shares a weekly reflection: 

Sunday, 17 & 24 August 2025 - Reading the Signs of the Times by Rev Professor Paul Fiddes

This has been a week of very hot weather, the second heatwave of the summer, and some of us have found it difficult to cope and get on with our usual daily activities. Our weather forecasters on television have done their best to keep us informed, and to explain why temperatures have become so much higher. Weather records show the most extreme weather ever recorded in the United Kingdom, including temperature, wind speed, and rainfall. But, if past experience is anything to go by, our forecasters and weather experts will have been receiving a heap of abusive emails and hostile ‘trolling’ on social media such as X. It isn’t that people blame the forecasters for the sweltering heat, but they receive regular complaints when they dare to suggest this is due to global warming, and that there are signs of an emergency here with action needing to be taken urgently.
 
The complainers are happy for forecasters to forecast the weather. They want to know when it’s best to go to the seaside or whether they could have tea in the garden. But they don’t want to be told that there are signs of something wrong in human behaviour, and that we will all have to accept sacrifices in our standard of living if there is to be any decrease in global warning. They don’t want to know that they need to use less petrol, or give up foreign air trips, or that more wind-farms should be built in the countryside around them. In short, they don’t want to do what Jesus in our Gospel reading set for Sunday calls ‘interpreting the present time’ (Luke 12:56), or in a parallel passage in Matthew, ‘the signs of the times’ (Matthew 16:4).* 
 
In Jesus’ day, weather forecasts were essential for sailors and farmers. In Sunday’s Gospel reading, Jesus gives an example of interpreting the skies: ‘if a cloud rises in the west, you say at once “a shower of rain is coming”, and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say “it will be hot”, and it happens.’ So,  the west wind from the sea brings rain; the desert wind from the south brings heat. The physical signs aren’t infallible, but they generally work quite well. Now, Jesus’ point to his hearers is that they aren’t half as good at interpreting the human world around them. And when we look at our world around, not only at the climate crisis, but at people starving in war zones and at people’s homes and families being destroyed by drones and missiles, Jesus still asks us: “Can’t you interpret the present time? Can’t you see what’s happening? Can’t you read the signs of the time?” People criticizing the weather experts obviously can’t. But what of us?
 
The Gospel reading set this Sunday follows on from the one we heard last week, in which Jesus told a parable about servants who need to be on the watch for their master to return home, at whatever time of day or night (Luke 12:35–38). Putting the two readings together, Jesus is saying that if we interpret the present time properly, we will be expecting Christ to come to us. This does not mean, I believe, the coming of Christ at the end of the ages. It means a coming of Christ in the everyday crises and emergencies here and now. It means that if we interpret the time aright, we will expect Christ to come to us—each of us—with a request, a demand, even a command. It may be about the way we treat our neighbour who is an immigrant or asylum seeker; it may be about moderating our lifestyle and reducing consumption where we can; it may be about joining a movement to protest against some injustice; it may be just about watching our words, being kind and sympathetic to others when we speak.
 If we interpret the signs of the times properly, we will discover Christ coming to us in unlikely persons and places. He will be calling us to act not when we feel like it, but in God’s time, which is always now.



Sunday, 10 August 2025 - Jesus the Thief

When we speak of Jesus, there are many titles and images that we use to refer to him that help to express the mystery of God revealed by his presence with us as the word made flesh. Many of these descriptors are used by Jesus himself, as he describes who he is and speaks of the nature of the kingdom of God. Some of these images are more popular than others, so we speak of the ‘good shepherd’, the ‘bread of life’, the ‘suffering servant’, the ‘prince of peace’, and the ‘light of the world’ relatively frequently.
 
This week, we will hear Jesus refer to himself and the nature of his future coming(s) quite differently.  In Luke 12:39-40, Jesus likens himself to a thief. The Son of Man is said to be like one who will come in the night a time that no one will expect.
 
It’s a jarring image meant to grab our attention. This coming kingdom, realised through the return of Christ, is not one that will be welcomed by everyone. A thief in the night is an unwelcome guest, one who will take away riches and hard-earned possessions. The gospel of Luke often speaks of the coming kingdom as being one in which the rich and powerful will be cast down and the poor will be lifted up. This is good news for some, but not for those who abuse their power, practice religion hypocritically, trample on those in need, and oppress others. Hence, both the religious and civic authorities work together in order to silence Jesus and have him executed. He is an unwelcome presence, one who threatens to take away the basis of their abuses of power.
 
I find this image of Jesus as an unexpected thief to be quite a powerful one. On the whole, thieves are a bigger threat to those with many possessions and those with a lot of money. The more you have, the more likely you are to fear that someone will take it from you, so increased levels of security and deterrents to thieves become necessary. Jesus the thief is a threat to the powerful.
 
Yet we know that Jesus isn’t all that interested in possessions and wealth. He isn’t coming as a thief to plunder riches for himself, and he’s not like Robin Hood, taking money from the powerful and giving it to the needy (although he does encourage his followers to sell their own possessions and give alms to the poor).
 
So, it got me wondering what it is that Jesus the thief would steal from us. He is like one who breaks in during the night and, rather than stealing goods, would more likely take from us the things that get in the way of our calling to participate in the mission of God.
 
Jesus the thief might take away our blind spots, our prejudices, and pride. Jesus the thief would steal our apathy, indifference, and despair. Jesus the thief would remove our grudges, unforgiveness, and selfishness. Jesus the thief would rummage through the mess of our lives, take away the rubbish, whilst leaving in plain sight that which is truly valuable in the eyes of God.
 
We can see how for those with power, those with wealth, and those living in their own little bubble, content with the way things are, then Jesus the thief is a threat. Like any other thief, he would be prevented from gaining access to the palaces of our lives if his arrival was announced ahead of time. Yet, he does arrive unexpectedly, opening our eyes to the kingdom of God as he does so, whether we like it or not!

Sunday, 03 August 2025 - Summer Vibes

We come across readings this week, from Ecclesiastes and the gospel of Luke, that both, in their own way, challenge some of assumptions that our consumerist society makes concerning what will make us happy.
 
Will we be happy when we have more money? More security? More status? Or more power and importance? The ‘teacher’ in Ecclesiastes suggests that all such things in the end are ‘vanity’. We cannot find happiness in these things alone. Jesus in the gospel of Luke points to the futility of building up our own wealth, when we might die at any moment and not have the chance to enjoy the fruits of our labour.
 
There is a common thread in both readings that points to the importance of living in the moment. Of course, planning for the future is important, just as looking back to the past can be helpful for us too. Yet, we are encouraged to ensure that neither the past or future overwhelms our capacity to share the love of God in the here and now.
 
Perhaps around the time of the summer holidays is a good opportunity for us to remember this call to be present in our relationships today. To spend time away from the pressures of work, volunteering, and worrying about the future is a helpful thing for us that helps keep things in perspective.
 
We also have a reminder that the kingdom of God, and the peace, justice and hope that Christ brings to us, is something that is realised in our lives today rather than it just being something that will be realised in the future.
 
May we have open hearts, minds, and hands, such that we can be free to live our lives participating in God’s mission today, freed from the past and not overwhelmed by potential needs of the future.