I recently saw the acclaimed and quite stunning film ‘Belfast’ and for those not familiar with it, it is made by Sir Kenneth Branagh and is a semi-autobiographical tale of his life being brought up in Northern Belfast in the late 1960s during ‘The Troubles’. It is so good partly because it is less about the terror atrocities that took place in Belfast but more a warmly nostalgic eulogy about that time when you are 9 or 10, having the time of your life, fancying the girl who sits behind you in school (even if she does follow another denomination) and where your parents dance in the street to Van Morrison.
However, there is a scene in the film when the young Branagh goes to church and is terrified within an inch of his life by the fire and brimstone preaching of the local minister. He talks loudly and violently of the two routes in life you can follow-one is to the promised land whilst the other is Hell. Sadly, young Branagh could not remember which route was the one to follow and how you avoided the road to Hell. The point of the scene though was how damaging such preaching was to young minds then and now.
Previously it was the Christian way to convert and control people through the various ‘Great Awakenings’ in our history with the last one accepted as probably being in the 1960s- we have I suspect all witnessed or heard such preaching – the one where our sins are denounced, we are told about the imminent threat of hell awaiting us if we do not repent and the preacher will generally shout, yell and even pound the pulpit. The effect in the end is quite often we get taught the religion of Fear rather than of Love.
Compare that approach then with that of the Southern Baptist churches in the USA who crafted for themselves a God who was kindly, full of compassion and love for his creation, and it reaped great awards- which is way it is the 2nd biggest Christian denomination across the Atlantic.
We should be grateful that the fire and brimstone style of preaching has gone out of style to be replaced by something wiser, more encouraging, and frankly something that is more effective in bringing young minds to Christ.
There is a recent tradition amongst my extended family which is to ask everyone to name their 3 favourite songs from a particular era or type of music. Not surprisingly, at this time of the year it is your favourite Christmas songs.
Now some of my friends have gone for the expected songs –‘ Last Christmas’ (1984) by Wham!, or ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ (1973) by Slade. Partly because I lived the music culture of the 70’s and 80’s I usually choose something like ‘ A Winter’s Tale’ (1983) by David Essex, ‘Step into Christmas’ (1973) by Elton John or The Pogues’ ‘Fairy tale of New York’ (1987). However, in recent years I have tended to favour the Sinead O’Connor version of the great Christian hymn ‘Silent Night’ which has the ability to cut you to the bone, to mentally slow you down, allowing you to meditate and commune with God.
As Christians, singing has always been important- indeed historically, it was identified as something that marked us out from other people. As far back as the 2nd century, the judge and governor Pliny the Younger commented about the Christians in Turkey saying:
“they would gather early in the morning and sing joyfully to one another, singing hymns to Christ as to a God”.
Of course, we are commanded to sing at various points of the Bible notably in James 5:13:
“Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms”
During Advent and running up to Christmas it is hymns that are at the forethought of our singing worship. I think ‘Silent Night’ speaks to me more than any other hymn as it captures through its lyrics and its slow mediative music, the upcoming event of the Baby Jesus being born (“Silent Night! Holy Night!, Shepherds quake at the sight!, Glories stream from heaven afar, Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!, Christ the Saviour is born!”)
The history of ‘Silent night’ is also very powerful- it came about through an Assistant Pastor at a church in Austria (Father Joseph Mohr) who took a six stanza poem that he had written to the church’s Choirmaster (Franz Xaver Gruber) for him to set music to it. The church organ was not working so they improvised with a guitar and a choir. That day was Christmas Eve 1818- it was first performed in that church (St Nicholas near Salzburg) later that day during Christmas Mass, and the rest they say is history.
So let us do as Psalm 100 commands us:
“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth” Serve the Lord with gladness”, come into his presence with singing!”
To listen to the Sinead O’Connor version, please click below:
In a few short days we will be commemorating the 20th anniversary of ‘9/11’ – the horrific terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda on the USA on that fateful morning of Tuesday 11 September 2001. The impact of that horrendous act has been sewn into our global and personal DNA by now. In the attacks 2,996 people were killed, 25,000 people injured, as well as 18,000 people impacted by the tons of toxic debris that were spread across New York by the collapse of the Twin Towers.
In response to al-Qaeda’s barbarism, the USA and its allies launched its ’War on Terror’ that included the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and Syria amongst other places. That in turn led to 800,000 deaths and over 35 million people being displaced. All because of something that 19 men ( with the average age of just 24) did 20 years ago. It was and still is such a huge tragedy.
Most of us I suspect can recall where they were on ‘9/11’. At the time, I was working with the UK Armed Forces that day in a Government building somewhere in London. At the time it took me back 10 years in my mind when a previous office that I worked in was bombed as part of the IRA’s Mortar Bomb attack in February 1991 when they tried to assassinate the then Prime Minister John Major and his entire Cabinet. Although we escaped unscathed, I can tell you that being bombed is not a nice experience and you never, ever forget that feeling of fear and dread, and I guess at some level it lives on in you. ‘9/11’ brought that memory back to us as we stood arm in arm with our American cousins both in thought and deed.
From a Christian perspective how to respond to acts of terrorism and barbarity is never easy. For example, the first public response of President Joe Biden to the recent atrocity at Hamid Karzai Airport in Afghanistan where more than 100 people were murdered was robust and blunt: “We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay”.
As Christians of course we are called to be peacemakers and to forgive (“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” -Matthew 6:14-15). However, the practice of that when it becomes very personal can be a totally different thing.
I think of the ex-Anglican Priest Julie Nicholson whose 24 year old daughter was one of the 56 people murdered by Islamic terrorists as part of the ‘7/7’ bombing in London in 2005. She felt she had to quit her position in the church because she could not forgive the suicide bomber who killed her daughter. She argued that her faith did not measure up when things became so tough. She said: “I could stand up as an Anglican priest, with my dog collar on, and speak those words of forgiveness and reconciliation. And then I would go into my house, close the door and know I didn’t believe them”. So forgiveness is a really tough act to undertake but Jesus does command us to do it as difficult as it can be.
When 11th September comes round I suspect many will sit in silence, to pray for all those affected and we hope we are able to forgive.
From time to time, I get into a conversation, and someone asks me to define what a ‘Christian’ is, what we believe in and if we are different from other people. Now there are a number of ways of answering that but one of the best descriptions of who we are as a faith was also one of the earliest descriptions made of Christians.
In the 13th century, a manuscript was found which was entitled ‘Epistle to Diognetus’, believed to have been written by a Greek writer, but which has been dated as being written around 130AD-so it is regarded as one of the earliest Christian apologetics (arguments in favour of Christianity). We are not sure who the author was or who the ‘Diognetus’ referred to was, but what was written over 1,800 years ago is still as good a definition of what a Christian is or should be as anything else I know:
“ (Christians) dwell in their own countries but simply as sojourners (temporarily). As citizens they share in all things with others and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do others, they begat children, but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table but not a common bed -they are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh”.
“They pass their days on earth but are citizens of heaven. They obey prescribed laws and at the same time, surpass the laws in their lives. They love all and are persecuted by all. They are poor, yet they make many rich; they are completely destitute and yet they enjoy complete abundance. They are reviled and yet they bless. When they do good they are punished as evildoers; undergoing punishment they rejoice because they are brought to life.”
