Days that change the world...

That was the focus of my sermon yesterday on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 alongside lectionary readings of the crossing of the red sea, and the Gospel passage on forgiveness. Before discussing the nature of forgiveness not being a denial of anger or of justice, and maybe needing a lifetime to work on I thought about the days that change our world.

There are moments that are such hinges that our lives divide into before and after, when things will never be the same again. Sometimes that happens on a world scale such as 9/11, when whatever we may think of the political decisions that followed we cannot deny that great shift from before to after. But more often it happens within our local world, our personal world - when it is turned upside down.  I quoted from the Radio 4 Book of the Week slot which had different authors responding to 9/11, Thursday's was entitled Prepositions and opened with 'Your husband died in 9/11; my husband died on 9/11'. It highlighted that lives changed that day for other reasons too, as they do every day.

Prepositions

On the evening of 11 Sept 2011 I came home to facebook news of the death of Rev Dr Angela Shier-Jones. She was a significant voice in Methodist theology, a deep thinker, and always a friendly face. But for me she was one of our local preachers in my home circuit when I was growing up, and I remember her going to Bristol to train as a minister. Searching the web this morning for more information to pass back to my family about the news I found the blog she began when diagnosed with incurable cancer a year ago.  In its heading she wrote -

Suffering Grace

Discovering that I have incurable cancer shattered my world. It showed me that at the most pivotal moments in our lives the Church fails us by being afraid to speak of God’s grace in pain and suffering and death. I am not. This is an unashamed, unafraid narrative of the work of God's grace in my life. It is not an apology for my suffering, or a religious excuse for my pain and death, it is my story of the joyous redemption of all that is needed to be fully human.

http://sufferinggrace.blogspot.com/

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This spoke so much to my own desire that we are able to be honest in church life about the painful stuff, the angry stuff, the 'why me' and the 'why them'. When we can be honest about the pain then we can begin to look in it and through it to glimpse God's grace.

My school English teacher used to criticise us for using the word 'nice' - it wasn't a proper word she said, it doesn't have a true meaning, it is an excuse for not deciding what to say. And 'niceness' invades so much of our church life, a mixture of British politeness and a worry perhaps that honesty with all its rawness might somehow offend God, or if not certainly scare our neighbour in the pew.

So in memory of all whose lives are turned upside down (don't think that leaves anyone out!) lets stop being nice and start being real.

Rest well in his arms Angela.