.

“Go rather to the lost sheep
of the House of Israel.
And as you go,
proclaim that the kingdom of heaven
is close at hand.”

They said that the only problem with Christianity is that it’s never been tried. Well, that is the quotation I was given, but thanks to AI I soon discovered the real source.

GK Chesterton 1874-1936 was (according to Google) an English author, philosopher, Christian apologist, poet, journalist and magazine editor. He is misquoted above but what he really said (wrote) has the same key point: “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”

Chesterton, one of the most popular communicators of Christianity in the early years of last century, added that he included himself among those who did not put their faith into action.

Is our problem that Christian faith is difficult? I’m not so sure.  I wonder if the problem is not so much that faith is difficult but that it is just too counter-cultural.

Our world praises and rewards the successful while Jesus teaches that the poor are the blessed.

The world sees money as a guarantee of security and a trustworthy measure of success. Yet Jesus tells us that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter Heaven.

The common thinking is that it’s ok to hold anger against those who have hurt you or those you love. Jesus reminds us to forgive seventy times seven times adding that we will be forgiven as we forgive others.

Not surprisingly most homilists hold back from reiterating Jesus’ clarity – probably for fear of upsetting parishioners who hold the widespread view that Jesus is not meant to be taken literally and that its ok to value power, covet riches, and fail to forgive.

TS Eliot is often quoted to support the teaching of Jesus: “…A condition of complete simplicity (Costing not less than everything).” 

Too often our religious frameworks over-emphasise who is in and who is out, who is right and who is wrong, who is good and who is bad. But Jesus has little time for such reductions of divine relationship and instead seeks out the “lost sheep” to tell them that they are very close to the Kingdom of Heaven.

So let me be clear about the situation i find myself in. I have more than I need, holding a few grudges, seeking after power and success. I cant seem to help myself.

Then I remember Jesus’ teaching, costing not less than everything. What am I to do?

The answer is simple. I speak to Jesus, I tell him how difficult and uncompromising his teaching seems to be. I ask for his advice and i open myself to his guidance.

I suppose in this way I am a lost sheep, seeking the shepherd in one moment, then struggling with whole-hearted acceptance of his invitation.

This is why I write these posts, and share my thoughts. I’m grateful to you the FFF readers for your company on the journey. We are of course in the same boat.

Once each month the FFF Trustees meet. Sadly Merv Duffy had to step back to take his new appointment as NZ Provincial for the Society of Mary. I’m grateful to Catherine Fyfe and James van Schie, new Trustees who join Chris Fogarty, Kate Kearins and Catherine Gibbs.

We’re snapped above at our Zoom meeting on Thursday.

Exactly the kind of company we need on the journey.

Perhaps you can find it at a Cafe gathering (below). I encourage you to take the initiative…

Take an initiative and send me a date time and place for a FFF cafe-catchups. john@fff.org.nz. I’ll advertise these on each morning’s post throughout Advent.

Christchurch
Monday 8 December 10.00am
Moko Bush Inn Centre
Waimairi Road, Christchurch. Trish

Lower Hutt
Wednesday 10 December 10am
Shine Cafe
2 Waterloo Rd, Hutt Central. Catherine

New Plymouth
Wednesday 10 December 10.30am
Stumble Inn
200 Mangorei Road
New Plymouth. Joan

Christchurch
Monday 15 December 10.00am
Moko Bush Inn Centre
Waimairi Road, Christchurch. Trish

New Plymouth
Thursday 18 December 1.30pm
Stumble Inn
200 Mangorei Road
New Plymouth. Joan