It was slightly embarrassing to be describing to former colleagues this week the location of our new church premises as the name GRACE has not yet been fixed to the front of the building! It blends in well with the street-scape and whilst we might not wish for prominence some distinguishing marks would be useful.
It did lead however to some consideration of the word ‘grace’. The dictionary quotes 11 different meanings but the one that applies to the church is ‘God’s unmerited favour’.

There is an incident in Victor Hugo’s play Les Miserables which illustrates it well. At the start of the play we meet Jean Valjean who is an embittered convict who cannot seem to relinquish his life as a thief. He is on the run and is given shelter in a cathedral. In the morning he has gone and so has the silver! The police catch him and bring him and the silver back to the Bishop. The latter rebukes Jean for leaving so soon and for leaving behind the two majestic candlesticks which the Bishop puts into the bag containing the silver.
He bids Jean farewell in front of the bewildered police and Jean gladly takes his leave!

This act of grace when the recipient deserved the reverse illustrated the Biblical use of the word. In addition, you cannot come to a place where God says “No more grace for you”. This is shown by the Bishop’s generosity in handing over the remaining articles of value, the two candlesticks. God’s grace is far deeper than the depth we may sink to.
The fact is that all God’s blessings come to us by His grace. There are none of us that merit any of them. As the Psalmist says in chapter 14 Verses 2 and 3 –
The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
Our best acts come from mixed motives. Sin is endemic in the human race from its beginning. The universality of sin is an empirical fact and which is easy to demonstrate! (G K Chesterton).
The question is “Has God grace to match the situation?” St Paul gives the answer (2 Timothy Chapter 1 verses 8 to 10) …God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”
The only part we can contribute towards our salvation is our sins. When we turn from them and look to Jesus who took them on his body on the cross paying the price we should have paid, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (St Mark Chapter 10 verse 45).
Those who trust in the work of Jesus on the cross on their behalf experience the forgiveness
which deals with guilt and brings freedom to live a new life (Romans Chapter 6 verse 4).
Hugo has the grace shown to Valjean change him completely till at the end he makes restitution returning the candlesticks to the now dying Bishop. The reality for the sinner who comes to Jesus is much better!

Followers of this blog will realise that this has been a pretty special week for all associated with Grace Church in Pearse Street, Dublin. It’s not every week that so many good things come together. To recap they were our Jubilee – 50 years in existence, the 20th year of our leader, Patrick Mullen’s ministry and the taking over of new church premises, at no cost to ourselves, funded from the sale of airspace above the old building.
As was fit and proper there was plenty of joy and gratitude to God last Sunday to mark the occasion. The Psalmist captures it well in the opening verses of Psalm 103
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
There was also the sense that we were only bystanders watching God at work. His grace (god giving us what we do not deserve) was appreciated and responded to with music and singing. It was an exceptional time and we thank God for it.

There is a danger, of course, that our love for God becomes conditional on our receiving his benefits! So much of our daily interaction with others falls into that category. But loving those who love you is not the whole story. Jesus said; “‘You have heard that it was said you shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies” (St Matthew Chapter verse 43).

That set the bar very high prompting one enquirer to ask Jesus a question. Here is the dialogue; “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly” (St Luke Chapter 10 verses 26/28).

This fourfold love of God, “all your heart, soul, strength and mind” is not dependent on getting a new hall or any of the many other benefits! It is a love for God Himself.
This command (the Shema) was given to the people of Israel before they entered the Promised Land. It was part of their article of faith (Deuteronomy Chapter 6 verse 5).
It requires the total devotion of one’s whole being. This love is not to be divided between other gods or idols (Exodus Chapter 20 verses 3 and 4).
The old doxology puts it well –
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

We would have to admit we are not very good at celebrations in Grace. Dates come and go almost un-noticed. However, when the years rolled up to 50 and this coincided with Pat reaching the 20th year in leading us we seemed to have the makings of an event! Then the Lord replaced our old building and delayed the completion of the work on the new one till a few weeks ago, it seemed like He was saying “Now will you celebrate all my goodness to you!”

And so it came to pass that we enlisted the help of our Dutch friends, the ‘Band of Brothers’ plus Bert to provide us with music to match the occasion. This band ‘Trinity’ has come a long way since the lads, as schoolboys, came to work on an Irish farm for part of their summer holidays. They have developed their Christian testimony playing at some of the major European venues and also in the Americas.

We have attempted to invite all those who in the past helped to make Grace the church that it is today. Some went to work in the suburbs helping to found the church which is known as ‘Dublin West’. Others from the Far East, Chinese-Malaysians and Cantonese speakers from Hong Kong were closely identified with us in their earlier years. They have built a new campus near Lucan and use the original premises in Dublin for a Mandarin speaking work to reach the many mainland China immigrants who come to Dublin to study.

Our home base in Pearse Street has proved to be a good venue for ‘Jobcare’. They are focussed on developing people who require some assistance to get into the Job scene. Taking their cue from the fact that all are created in the image of God and therefore of infinite worth, they have helped many over the years.

It is some time ago that one of our members felt the frustration of the demanding nature of the work he was doing, gave up his business and with the blessing of the Church re-located his family to Cameroon. The Lord led them to settle in the nDop Region and become involved in Wycliffe’s work of producing the Bible in the language of the people. This has prospered and teaching literacy is ongoing.

Allied to the translation work a number of people from Grace visited the Region and the Lord alerted one of them to the need for clean water. From small beginnings many wells have been dug and water filters manufactured. This work has prospered and thanks to the training of local people there are now many facets of the work continuing in local hands.

Our central location has given us an ‘All Nations’ dimension. Specifically, we cater for Romanian, Lithuanian and Russian congregations, each using their own language.
For all these things and many more we give God the glory. The name Grace on the front of the building portrays the Grace of God in all our ways. The words of Jesus are written in stone above our entrance depicting the primacy of Scripture.
“Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away” St Luke 21:33.

“My Father never spoke about it.” In common with most sons and daughters of those who fought in World War 1 it was not a topic that was open for conversation.
The sheer horror of living through that experience had to be buried in the depth of the mind, to be disturbed as little as possible.
Only once do I remember him speaking and that was at a regimental reunion. The Commanding Officer was there, at least most of him. He had lost his left arm and his left eye had a black patch over it. As a small boy the patch fascinated me but I didn’t have the courage to ask him what was behind it!
The reunion took place in a garden and some of the men had difficulty in using their crutches. It was before the days of plentiful wheelchairs. They gathered in small groups but I was not included. I expect they congregated with those they had been with in the trenches. It was a sunny day and there was plenty of food and drink. It seemed to be a good reunion but I do not think it was ever repeated.
My Father spent three months in the Somme. The average life-span of a 2nd Lieutenant there was six weeks. He was one of the fortunate ones. He was posted to the Italian front and spent the remainder of the war based in Fume in the Adriatic.
My uncle Willie was not so fortunate. He was killed in action at Beaumont Hamel.
He was mother’s eldest brother. His life-size photograph of his head and shoulders I guess was a product of the war office. It hung in our living room as if to deny the fact that he was no longer with us. I expect similar photographs graced the walls of German families evoking similar emotions. A mute testimony to the folly of war.

That was in Scotland. In Ireland the soldiers did not fare so well. They found their homeland was a different place when they returned. Some continued to fight in whatever party they favoured. Others faded into obscurity as they had been ‘contaminated’ by fighting for the British. Those who were killed in action were never spoken about outside the family circle and not till recently were they properly recognised and mourned for their bravery.
It is this latter group, numbering many thousands, that are being remembered in many towns and villages around the country. In some cases, it is a wall with all their names cut into the stone. In other places a war memorial is erected with names engraved and headed with a cross. Crosses are the one thing in common between the graves of the opposing armies. The cross has become the international symbol of sacrifice – penal sacrifice. It also symbolises peace on a cosmic scale between God and his creation. This peace comes “…through Christ reconciling to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians chapter 1 verse 20).
It creates not just an armistice, a truce, but true freedom and peace within. The guilt is gone. The anger confessed. The enemy within is repented of. All taken by Christ on himself who “forgives our wickedness and will remember our sins no more” (Hebrews Chapter 8 verse 12).

The joy which met the news that the Pakistan Supreme Court had revoked the 2010 conviction of blasphemy was tempered with the realisation that ‘freedom’ might be an even bigger challenge for Asia Bibi. She has become the poster-girl for Pakistan’s infamous blasphemy law. The law carries the death penalty, a verdict which has not yet been carried out and it is this absence of capital punishment that has enraged some Islamists.

Asia Bibi, who is a Roman Catholic, like most Pakistani Christians was a low caste worker acting as a servant for a group of Muslin women who were harvesting berries. She was returning to the group with some water but because she had taken a drink it was said that the water was contaminated by her drinking it. An argument ensued in which the Muslim women freely blasphemed Jesus claiming he was a bastard as he had no father and other such derogatory statements about Christianity requesting that she become a Muslim.
It was in this context that Asia said, “I believe in my religion and in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the sins of mankind. What did your Prophet Mohammed ever do to save mankind? And why should it be me that converts instead of you?”

Five days later Asia was challenged by a mob who beat her and, returning to her home, attacked her family also. The local Mosque used its loudspeakers to accuse her of blasphemy and encouraged people to take the law into their own hands. Asia was imprisoned and a year later, formally charged. The charges which were put before the court were exaggerated and Asia was handed the death penalty.

The sentence was appealed and support given by the governor of Punjab who investigated the affair on behalf of the President, Asif Ali Zardari. The governor and his wife visited Asia a number of times and anticipated an acquittal. He was shot by his Islamist bodyguard.

The Minority Affairs Minister said that he was first threatened with death in June 2010 because of his support for Asia. He was shot through the window of his car about a year later. He had been the only Christian member of Pakistan’s cabinet. In subsequent hearings there has been an understandable reluctance to depart from the guilty verdict and the case has acquired a significance far beyond its importance because of the draconian blasphemy law.

All this makes the acquittal verdict reached this week highly significant. There have been calls for the death of the three supreme court judges. The Tehreek-e-Labaik Islamism political party, who have made the upholding of the blasphemy law their main cause, have created civil disturbances in a number of cities. They want to have the verdict reversed and are calling for Asia’s death. Yesterday the government, in an effort to placate them, have said Asia cannot leave the country. Asia has exchanged one prison for another!

Jesus said, “A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God” (St John Chapter 16 verse 2). That time is now here. It shows the intimate connection between witness and martyrdom that Jesus foresaw. “Have faith in God” (St Mark Chapter 11 verse 22).

The Halloween season traditionally brings out the creepy side of life. Youngsters engage in “Trick or Treat”. Dressed in scary costumes they visit neighbours and require payment of fruit and nuts (or sweets and coins) to go away! The days of performing party-pieces are all but gone. The turnip lantern has been largely replaced by the pumpkin complete with a lighted candle shining through the teeth and eyes of a fearsome effigy carved on the side of its circular head!

For the adults it is the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints, martyrs, and all the faithful departed. It probably grew out of the Celtic festival of Samhain which marked the end of harvest and summer. It was seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the ‘otherworld’ thinned. Tricks were played by spirits and ghosts with the inclusion of Dracula the Vampire in the more blood-thirsty recent times.

Dracula was written by an Irishman called Bram Stoker. He wrote it after researching the folklore of Romania and chose the setting of the Carpathian Mountains for the castle which was to be the vampire’s abode. He had never visited the location making up the castle from a combination of the ruined Slain’s Castle in Aberdeenshire and Whitby Castle in Yorkshire.

The fact that vampires are particularly nasty creatures has not dimmed their popularly which has increased each Halloween till this week when a commemorative coin worth €15 was launched by the Minister of Finance in Glasnevin cemetery!
This was an appropriate place for the launch as Dracula lived on the blood of his victims. Legend has it that they, once bitten, became addicted to blood so you could have a lot of nasty Dracula’s causing havoc about the place. Help is at hand however as a crucifix will keep them at bay and a stake driven through the heart means that they will trouble you no more!

It is interesting that in the book the crucifix should be given the power over evil. Popular folklore usually gets it wrong! It attributes power to the symbol instead of the source. The writer to the Hebrews (Chapter 12 verse 2) helps to clarify what was happening on the cross. He writes that we are to run the race of life looking unto Jesus “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of God.”
The cross represents the greatest suffering in history. Jesus not only suffered physically but also experienced God’s just wrath on the sin of the world which Jesus had taken upon himself. The promise of future reward and joy gave Jesus the strength to suffer despising the shame that was inherent in crucifixion. The wooden cross has no power nor does it become powerful when a human image of Jesus is fastened to it. Actually the Bible never uses the cross as a symbol of Christianity. Stoker, like so many others got it wrong in attributing the power to the symbol rather than the substance which is Christ (St Matthew Chapter 28 verse 18).

In the midst of this week’s load of confusion over Brexit one voice was heard to say “We are 90% agreed”! In the middle of the remaining 10% is the problem of the Irish Border. Why is there no solution to it that keeps everyone happy?
Because there isn’t one!

It was last December that a ‘fudge’ called the Irish Backstop was invented. This permitted the problem to be temporarily set aside. It said that even if no formal deal could be reached on trade and security arrangements, Northern Ireland would stay in the customs union and much of the single market, guaranteeing a friction-free border with the Republic.

Both the UK and EU signed up to this basic idea in December 2017 as part of the initial Brexit deal, but there have been disagreements since on how it would work.

The UK Prime Minister requires the support of the Northern Ireland Members to maintain her parliamentary majority. They are opposed to any deal which treats the North differently from the rest of the UK.

On the other hand, those on the right wing of her party want a complete severance from the EC. To achieve this, they have tended to ignore the North hoping it would merge with the South – something it has resisted for over 100 years. There is no doubt a united Ireland makes sense to everyone except the people who live on the island!
The Bible has some wisdom to offer. It may appeal to those who think that Brexit was ill advised from the start! This from Proverbs Chapter 26 verses 4 and 5.

“Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself” (Verse 4).

“Answer a fool according to his folly or he will be wise in his own eyes” (verse 5).

If you supply an answer to the foolish you will certainly get more questions or comments of the same foolish nature and you may end up like the fool.
If you do not answer the fool, he may be tempted to think that he cannot be answered.
This would encourage him to continue with his folly.

The dilemma of Brexit is that we see we the negotiators try to reason with the unreasonable. You can’t win! That’s why we have had so many resignations. They have seen the folly and resigned.

In the trial of Jesus, we see examples of both. He was in the hands of fools and he knew the Scriptures. At times he made no answer and at other times he answered that the Scripture might be fulfilled (Isaiah Chapter 53 verse 7; Psalm 41 verse 9 and St Matthew Chapter 27 verse 14).

It is good to remind ourselves that there are no borders in heaven! And in that blessed place even the fools of earth will be redeemed to the glory of God by the work and merits of Christ and that gives me a lot to rejoice in.

Seldom can a Public Inquiry have produced a report of such clarity as the publication this week of the Disclosures Tribunal Report into the destruction of the reputation of Sgt Maurice McCabe. Justice Peter Charleton identified three culprits: the head of An Garda Síochána, Commissioner Martin Callinan, the Press Officer, Supt. David Taylor and the Child and Family Agency, Tulsa.

The latter, whose handling of a file which should have been filed ‘dead’ in 2006 is quite without precedent. A social worker appeared to have erroneously placed a horrendous report of sexual crimes against a young girl on the file and the error was never corrected. Instead the toxic file took on a life of its own and, at one stage, a letter falsely accusing McCabe of sexual crimes was opened by his wife! The contents of the file were circulated to Garda headquarters and then to Press Officer David Taylor.

It is a sorry situation but organisations do not like whistle-blowers. With An Garda Síochána there is a strong loyalty which arises out of the nature of the work. Under Callinan’s watch this was encouraged and whistle-blowers creditability was to be attacked. In his Press Officer, Callinan found an alley to assist him in his efforts to do down McCabe. Charleton used the word ‘calumny’ around 50 times in his 406 page report to describe the accumulation of lies told by both men in their efforts to destroy McCabe’s creditability.

Problems with Garda structures were looked at by the Morris Tribunal 10 years ago.
Changes were put into effect and structures improved. But structures have proved to be subservient to Garda culture. This needs to change. The truth should be paramount. Backing up fellow Garda should never compromise the facts of the case.
It seems that inside An Garda Síochána we have the situation Isaiah 59 described: –
So justice is driven back,
and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.
Truth is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

In this case McCabe was the prey. How many more McCabe’s will it take before the culture is corrected?
In Isaiah’s day it took a period in exile, away from their land and centuries of hardship before the Christ came. His revelation of truth did not compromise even at death. In fact, his death became the gateway to glory for all truth lovers who walk in his ways.

Some wisdom from James (chapter 4 verses 13 to 17).
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

In James’s vision forward planning must carry the label “If the Lord wills”! Certainly St Paul would agree (Acts Chapter 18 verse 21). “Man proposes God disposes” was a familiar saying of yesteryear. It underlined some understanding of the sovereignty of God in all our affairs.

Certainly this was a week when we were conscious of just how little control we have over our activities. A routine visit to the doctor ended up with Betty having five days in hospital. The garden and greenhouse were left to their own devices! The dog spent some fruitless hours looking for her!! The cuisine took a downward turn with many complaints from Tess until I got her food portions right. She will be a happy dog when Betty comes home at the weekend!

The Chemist’s assistant recommended “The Power of Positive Thinking” the book, was written back in 1992 by Norman Vincent Peale and is still popular today. It is a classic in wishful thinking! It aims at eliminating negative thoughts and visualising solutions to your problems. Trouble is that you have to keep doing it and never get off the treadmill.

A better plan would be the power of negative thinking. Now that would keep most of us busy! But instead of becoming depressed you take up Jesus’s invitation to “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (St Matthew Chapter 11 verses 28 to 30).

It all hinges on your coming to Jesus. All that he requires is that you leave your sinful thoughts and deeds with him. He has already taken the ultimate burden when he died in the sinner’s place and his blood purified us from all our sins (1 John Chapter 1 verse 7). When you leave your guilt and shame with him you cannot take it back as he has purged them. They are gone for good.
So, as St James says, now that you know the right thing to do – do it.

Of all the words in the English language the word ‘sorry’ can be the hardest to articulate! It may also be the hardest word to hear or perhaps accept according to a new study from Queen’s University published at the 10th anniversary of the banking crisis.
Apparently researchers have categorised into groups people who should apologise to society and bankers are included with the paramilitaries and clerical or institutional abusers. In fact, a survey showed that Bankers scored the lowest!
This is the 10th anniversary of the State’s guarantee of the Republic’s banking system, which cost taxpayers €64 billion in bailouts and tipped the State into an international bailout. The guarantee was arranged between the then Taoiseach and his Minister of Finance when they came under considerable pressure from the leading bankers.
With hindsight far too much credence was given to the might of the banks who were seen as being too big to be allowed to go burst.
Perhaps a case of allowing appearances to influence you was when Samuel was choosing Saul’s successor and was misled by Eliab’s attractive looks. The Lord cautioned Samuel “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel Chapter 16 verse 7). Under the Lord’s guidance Samuel went on to chose David, the youngest of Jesse’s family, who was doing the menial task of shepherding.
The bankers word of choice with regard to their atrocious banking practices was ‘regret’! It, or a variation of it, was used 230 times in the testimonies. It is hard to see why they could not express sorrow unless the shadow of possible lawsuits for negligence hung over them. They have bought into the common confusion about who they were paid to serve – themselves or the public. The continues to be illustrated by the large banker’s bonuses they award themselves.
St Paul writing to the church in 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 verse 15 quoting Christ as an example, stated that they – the Corinthian believers – “should no longer live for themselves”. They obviously did once live for themselves. Clearly bankers are not the only people in that category although their leaders demonstrate it well!
If you have been redeemed by Christ, your orientation should have changed from selfishness i.e. serving self to serving others. The motive is again emphasised by the text … “should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again”.
Living for Christ is a 24/7 activity!