Benefice of St Mary’s Chard, Combe St
Nicholas, Wambrook and Whitestaunton
Fourth Sunday after Trinity.
Hi everyone,
On Sunday we shall, some
of us, be taking our Rogation walk and praying for good weather!
It will be good to share
in prayer and worship whilst walking and talking with plenty to catch up on,
giving us a sense of returning to some of the things we enjoy in our life
together as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Yesterday I had the
pleasure of being in a meeting, for supporting the Corrymeela Community in
Northern Ireland, with Hedley Abernethy who is the Head of Programmes working
in community in NI. He is gathering and working with people’s stories around
the legacy of conflict, and I was particularly struck by his approach as he
talked about how they are exploring what people know about life outside of the
walls of their community. The project is working with three areas in Belfast
City, on the Causeway Coast and the Glens, asking the questions, what do you
know about this place, the heritage and the history? Our place, our past, and
our perspectives, what makes a place a place? Hedley then went on to talk about
how the people are discovering hidden story, lost story and people’s
perceptions of the story.
It is the same in any
place isn’t it really. It reminded me that the Museum is trying to collect
stories from those who have lived here all their lives, to keep alive the story
that makes us the people of Chard and the surrounding villages, how we are
shaped by that story and history, how hard it is for Chard to shake off some of
the old story that still clings. If you have moved in to this area you may have
been told as I was, that no one goes out in the evening, or that no one does
anything on Saturday afternoons, well that isn’t quite true but the levels of
through flow do drop at these times giving the feeling that it is an accurate
reflection, and so perpetuating the story.
But some stories are
completely set down, to be explored and discussed but not to be changed, like
our Gospel reading stories of the woman with the bleeding and Jairus’s daughter
they can be interpreted and prayed with to find the meaning for our lives but
they stay the same, or do they? When we delve deeper into the what and why of
Jesus’s actions and the words and actions of those involved, we find a new
discovery of just who we are in relation to the story, where it resonates in
our being and interlinks with the events that have unfounded and made each of
us who we are. Why does the Gospel writer Mark pick these two moments from what
were undoubtably more actions of prayer and healing on that day. They both talk
of faith, the woman maybe frightened that she will be rejected approaches
silently and touches Jesus knowing that is all that is needed, and she was
right, but she is also discovered and on being asked to approach Jesus comes
near in fear, but instead of what she believes will happen, she receives love
in action. And Jairus a leader of the Synagogue cares more for his daughter
than his position in the synagogue and asks for help, he believes his daughter
will be healed. It takes the greatest strength of belief on his part especially
once he hears she has died, but he goes with Jesus to the house and the is
restored. A twelve year old girl and a woman healed, women didn’t have any
position in the culture of the time as a rule, but Jesus goes against the grain
of culture and action to change the story, that all are able to receive the
love of God.
Our reading coming from
2 Corinthians 8.1-15, is such a wealth of self-examining and richness. As I
read it the words of that beautiful Christmas hymn came into my mind. Thou who
wast rich beyond all measure yet for love’s sake becamest poor. And the second thing that came to mind was
balance, the last verse reads: “The one who had much did not have too much, and
the one who had little did not have too little”. At the end I have added the
beautiful hymn and the story behind why Frank Houghton wrote it.
Be Blessed in all you do
this week. Rev Georgina.
You can find out more of
John and Betty’s story on the internet.
“Thou Who Wast Rich
Beyond All Splendour”
This beautiful hymn was written
to honour and esteem missionaries John and Betty Stam. In China, 1934, they
were taken prisoner by Communist soldiers, along with their three-month-old
baby, Helen. John and Betty were marched to their deaths, but miraculously,
baby Helen, hidden in a sleeping bag, survived and was discovered five days
later. She was still alive.
The deaths of John and
Betty Stam electrified the Christian world. Upon hearing of the deaths of John
and Betty Stam, Frank Houghton wrote this hymn, which was inspired by 2 Corinthians 8:9: “… that though He was rich, yet for
your sake he became poor.”
John and Betty Stam were
compelled to give their lives for the truth that would eventually be printed on
John’s tombstone: “That Christ may be glorified whether by life or by death.
For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phil. 1:20-21).
Thou who wast rich
beyond all splendour,
All for love’s sake becamest poor;
Thrones for a manger didst surrender,
Sapphire paved courts for stable floor.
Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love’s sake becamest poor.
Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love’s sake becamest man;
Stooping so low, but sinners raising,
Heavenward by Thine eternal plan.
Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love’s sake becamest man.
Thou who art love beyond all telling,
Savior and King, we worship Thee.
Emmanuel, within us dwelling,
Make us what Thou wouldst have us be.
Thou who art love beyond all telling,
Savior and King, we worship Thee.
– Words: Frank Houghton;
Music: French Carol Quelle Est Cette Odeur Agreable © 1934
