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| Bridge of Glory, Nicholas Roerich (1923) |
Good morning and thank you for joining us for Start Stop. Our prayers and reflection will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates. Today the church remembers the life of Bernard of Clairvaux, whose writings include a step by step plan to help us on our journey of discipleship. We begin with a short reading from scripture.
Bible Reading-Luke 9.57-62
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Reflection
“I’ll be ready to leave in a minute but could I just first....” is a phrase heard with familiar regularity in my house. Occasionally it is me waiting by the door with my bags packed, ready to leave - but more often I am the one scrabbling to find the passports or having one last cup of tea, because of course they probably don't have tea or kettles wherever it is that we are going to be staying, so the priority is obviously to down as much tea as possible before we go - and deal with the inevitable consequences - even if that means cutting it fine at the airport.
If the “can I just first” response is irritating when setting out on day trip or a weeks holiday - then how much more serious in the context of the most important journey of our lives - following the call of discipleship. With that in mind, Jesus’s harsh hyperbolic retorts to the two disciples seem positively restrained. After all, how can we promise to follow the call of the most significant person in the history of the world - to submit to Christ as Lord - and say “ah yes of course, but could I just first...”
Jesus’s response to the first man who approaches him is subtly different, but also addresses the underlying issues of misplaced priorities and the desire for control. This man isn't a disciple, because he hasn't been called by Jesus – he has called himself. Jesus challenges his commitment - questioning whether he really is willing to give up his comfortable life and follow the Son of Man, who has nowhere to lay his head. No place to call home.
It is in prayer and the scriptures that we can find guidance and nourishment for this life-changing journey to which we have been called. The priest and author John-Francis Friendship, who is based at the London Centre for Spiritual Direction in Lombard Street, has suggested the Bible is not just a historical record of Gods interaction with the world and his people as a whole, but can be read as an account of our own, individual journeys through life, by conceptualising the scriptures as themes arranged in a cycle. Our birth in the creation narratives of Genesis, our growth through childhood when we learn and test boundaries and rebel against authority; themes that can be found in the Exodus and the books of the prophets. The incarnation might mark a time of our spiritual growth in to adulthood, followed by our death and resurrection to a new creation. While these themes are arranged cyclically, our journey through life may find us flitting to and fro between the various points on the cycle at different times. Life doesn't always go to plan. Mapping my life onto the biblical cycle would require a spirograph to plot all the twists and turns and backtracks - I have certainly not managed to consign my rebellious streak to my teenage years!
For some, the image of the biblical cycle may be helpful to relate scripture to our lives - to find new meanings in parts of the scriptures we know well or help us to access those parts with which we are less familiar. But, like any model or abstraction, for others it may be more hindrance than help. Where is the beginning? We can't realistically go back to our own creation to begin the cycle. What if we want to start again, here and now - as Teresa of Avila said "no one is so advanced in prayer that they do not often have to return to be beginning."
The twelfth century monk Bernard of Clairvaux, who is remembered by the church today, offers some guidance here - with a linear, step by step plan for growing to love God - a plan that tackles head on our innate desire for personal control and recognises our tendency to misplace our priorities. In fact, Step One of Bernard’s plan embraces and relies on these inherently human responses to the divine - he accommodates our "can I just first..." response. Described as “love of self for one’s own sake” his starting point banks on our self-centredness as we try to overcome our problems and gain happiness and satisfaction on our own. But we soon realise we can’t get what we want and avoid what we don’t want all the time. That’s when we turn to God for help – and we arrive at the second stage: “love of God for one’s own sake” – the beginning of a conscious spiritual life. Our prayers may not be answered in the way we want or expect but we begin to appreciate the grace of God as being active in our lives. The more we realise this, the more we begin to focus our love on God rather than on the consequences on Gods love in our lives. This is the third stage – “love of God for God’s sake.” Finally, St Bernard suggests that this leads us to perceive ourselves in a new way, to see new beauty and worthiness in our own lives - "love of one's self for God's sake."
Whether we choose to find guidance and nourishment on our journey by following our lives using the biblical cycle or walking with Bernard of Clairvaux's step by step plan for loving God, what matters on our journey of discipleship is that we put Jesus first - and follow Him whatever the cost. In the journey of our lives today, may the love of Jesus always be our answer to "can I just first."
Meditation
A short period of silence before we pray.
Prayers
Jesus you are our Lord and Master,
Help us to follow you faithfully
Living God,
You have called us as disciples and we have promised to follow you.
Guide our footsteps as we travel on this marvellous journey of faith and friendship;
May we remember always that whether we are setting out anew each day or are practised pilgrims, you are forever with us.
Jesus you are our Lord and Master,
Help us to follow you faithfully
Living God,
We pray for those who are seeking purpose in their lives, searching for spiritual fulfilment.
We pray especially for those in need this day, those who are uncertain about the future, who are struggling and feeling alone.
Nourish us all through the gifts of prayer and scripture so that we may find strength to persevere even when the journey is demanding and no end seems in sight.
Jesus you are our Lord and Master,
Help us to follow you faithfully
Living God,
Your love for us is a source of eternal strength,
We thank you for your forgiveness when we lose our sense of direction, when you shepherd us back to the way, the truth and the life.
May we always trust you to lead us, putting you first in every moment of our lives.
Jesus you are our Lord and Master,
Help us to follow you faithfully
Blessing
In thy journeys to and fro
God direct thee;
In thy happiness and pleasure
God bless thee;
In care, anxiety, or trouble
God sustain thee;
In peril and in danger
God protect thee;
And may the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with us and remain with us this day and always.
Amen.
(Blessing from a prayer written by Timothy Olufosoye).
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