It’s been an interesting week for banks.   One took a gamble that it would remain popular and rid itself of those expensive commodities – the small time customer.   The other offered to repay some of the mountain of debt which, though welcome, simply goes to repay the money the State borrowed to bail it out in the first place.

The audacity of the first bank’s approach in forgetting that it wouldn’t exist if we had not stepped in to save it during the recent recession shows how detached a service industry can get from its customers.

In forcing its clients to deal outside the bank door at the ATM increases vulnerable people to theft.   Nor does today’s picture of our border bandits’ destruction of a petrol station, where an excavator was used to dig out the ATM, do anything to inspire confidence in these machines.

We also had the Taoiseach’s spoof in a speech in Europe last week describing the dire state of Ireland during the recession.   In it he recalled a conversation with the governor of our central bank in which he said the use for soldiers to guard ATM’s was considered.   Perhaps his words will yet be seen to be prophetic!

Everyone knows that the root of all kinds of evils is the love of money (1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 10).   It is not money that is the problem but our love of it.

The god mammon is not only attractive to bandits but also bankers.   The former take enormous risks to get other people’s money.   The latter likewise but on a larger scale.   In fact large numbers of graduates shun creative work for the pleasure of playing a numbers game with other people’s money in a global giant corporate roulette!

Jesus knew all about mammon.   He could see how easily it could capture the heart.   His teaching to his followers to do their banking in heaven (the money would never be safe on earth) concluded with “for where your treasure is your heart will be also” (St Matthew chapter 6 verses 19 to 21).

We know just how much we love money when we come to give it away!   Mammon will give you many reasons why you should keep it.   You have earned it.  It is yours by right.   There must be reasons why others are poor!   They would only waste it!!

St Paul’s antidote to this way of thinking is written down for us in his letter to the Philippians.   “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.   Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.   Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Chapter 2 verses 1 to 4).

Mammon or Christ?   Make sure who you are following.

Governments and other power brokers have always recognised the strategic importance of the womb.    Gaining control over the reproductive process is one way to play god.   This week the Chinese law restricting married couples to one child is to end.   This concludes the largest population control experiment, designed by Chairman Mao and inflicted on his people.

It is reckoned to have prevented 400,000,000 births since first imposed in 1980.   These are the sort of figures we usually associate with the number of abortions in the US over roughly the same time period.   People power or Chairman Mao’s power produce the same outcome.

In China, where women have little say in the matter, there has been a preference for boys.   This has produced an unnatural imbalance of 30 million more males in the population.     There may have been a predisposition to this as a Chinese proverb on marital bliss says “may you be blessed with 100 sons and 1,000 grandsons”.   Daughters don’t get a mention!

The law was first relaxed in 2013 with permission to have a second child being granted to those who were themselves only children.   It was assumed that this would alter the demographic but it seems that things have not gone according to plan.

China is rapidly being urbanised with city life attracting many of childbearing age to take up careers.   This in turn has produced a disincentive to have children or perhaps, as in the west, defer starting a family till later in life.

It is a recurring theme in Scripture that the Lord has control over the fruit of the womb.   In the case of Hannah, who was barren, the Lord marked Samuel’s birth by the years of devotion of the godly Hannah in the face of provocation from her rival, Peninnah, which led to the high priest Eli blessing her and prophesying the birth of Samuel.

One of the things that encouraged the hesitant Jeremiah was the revelation that came to him in his teens confirming his calling: – “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Chapter 1 verse 5).

Again when Jesus entered the world we learn that the naming process took place before he was conceived in the womb (Luke Chapter 2 verse 21).  As so often in the Bible the person’s name equals their nature.  It gives you the clue as to what they are about.   St Matthew tells us the angel gave him the name Jesus because “he would save his people from their sins” (Chapter 1 verse 21) this was to be his job.    He did it faithfully till on the cross he uttered his last words “It is finished” (St John Chapter 19 verse 30) not “I am finished” as we might have said.    His work of salvation was completed.  Nothing is required to be added to it.  It has been accomplished.

While mankind will always be tempted to mess with wombs as it plays god with others’ lives there is forgiveness and a new start for those involved in the mess who change direction, sincerely repent and receive the love gift of the Holy Spirit who will remain in you forever.

Being part of a multi ethnic church affords us glimpses of the wonder of the seasons through the eyes of folk from the tropics. We are blessed with four seasons each with its own beauty. The freshness of spring flows into the glories of summer and then comes the wonder of the autumn tints to be followed by winters’ sombre hues.

All this we take largely for granted whereas the transformation is dramatic when viewed for the first time through the eyes of someone from a mono-season climate.

Perhaps the beauty of the seasons inspired the German Christian who penned the hymn ‘Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature, Son of God and Son of Man!

Written in 1677 the second verse makes the comparison; –

Fair are the meadows, fair are the woodlands,

Robed in the blooming garb of spring:

Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,

Who makes the woeful heart to sing.

All of which reminds me of the conversation between an Oxford theologian and Sadu Sunder Singh at Keswick Convention many years ago. The Sadu had been converted when a vision of Christ appeared to him in the night proclaiming “I am the Way the Truth and the Life” (St John Chapter 14 verse 6).

A life of hardship followed starting with being poisoned by his family who were high caste Sikhs.

His passion, like St Paul before him, was to take the gospel to places where it had never been before (Romans Chapter 15 verse 20) making an annual mission to travel into Tibet where he met with fierce opposition but also miraculous conversions.

At Keswick the theologian asked him what attracted him, a high caste Sikh, to Christianity? Was it the ethical teachings? Was it the laws? Was it the care for the outcast? To each question the Sadu answered with his face beaming, “Jesus Christ”!

We all want to divide up Christ but he is more than the sum of his attributes.

It was in the context of Christian giving that St Paul could not find words to express the wonder of God’s gift to us in Jesus Christ; “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift” (2Corinthians Chapter 9 verse 15). Or as our hymn writer put it; –

Beautiful Saviour! Lord of the nations!

Son of God and Son of Man!

Glory and honour, praise, adoration,

Now and for evermore be Thine.

The fire last weekend at the temporary halting site took the lives of ten people. Five were adults and five were children. They died when fire totally engulfed the Portacabin and a caravan the families had been occupying for the last eight years.

There followed an outpouring of sympathy with tributes led by the President, the Archbishop of Dublin and Government Ministers. Floral tributes were strewn around the entrance to the site. Local housing officials attended the site and organised hostel accommodation for the 15 survivors who had been left homeless.

The Local Council identified a suitable site on an acre of land which it owned close by to the original site. The neighbouring houses were leafleted informing them of a temporary arrangement to house the survivors. The local residents quickly declared the site unsuitable, doubted the Council’s word that it would terminate after 6 months and anticipated anti-social behaviour from the remaining members of the Connors family. As I write talks with the residents are ongoing.

First the sympathy then the realisation of the consequences. The reservoir of goodwill dries up quickly and the “nimby” (not in my back yard) attitude forms. Scripture has a few similar examples the best known being the attitude of the Jews to the Samaritans (St John’s Gospel Chapter 4 verse 9).

Ignoring the convention that Jews did not mix with Samaritans Jesus stayed with them for two days during which time many believed in him.

Did these believers have their faith in Jesus established by Philip the Apostle’s preaching when he went there following the persecution of believers in Jerusalem? (Acts Chapter 8 verses 4/8). It seems likely that they were there to hear Philip update them with the news of the crucifixion and resurrection. The text says they paid close attention to what he said and there were signs authenticating the message as people were delivered from evil spirits and healed from paralyses.

The Gospel is for all groups. There are no exceptions. The challenge is to follow Philip’s example.

Deutschland Uber Alles, perhaps, but not last Thursday! Not in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin for sure! It may have been only one goal that the Irish side scored but wasn’t it a beauty. Shay Long’s fresh legs (he had just been substituted) outpaced the opposition to the ball. His shot flew unerringly, past Neuer (the best goalkeeper in the world) into the far corner of the net.

It exorcised the memories of past defeats and resurrected the ‘Olay, Olay, Olay’ song which had not been sung for so long that many of the youngsters present had to learn the words! There was plenty of opportunity to practise them as the celebrations lasted half the night.

Apologies to our German readers but beating the world champions at soccer is not the sort of thing which happens to us every day! It is now up to our Rugby Team to prove themselves tomorrow against France having made their way successfully through the preliminary matches of the World Cup.

But the week was not all about winning. Digicel, Dennis O’Brien’s flagship, was to be floated on the New York Stock Exchange but was withdrawn. Stock-market volatility was blamed but the offering may have been overpriced. In any event all Digicel’s data is now in the public domain along with its ambition to be the main sports broadcaster in the Caribbean.

This ambition was dented with the news that John Malone’s Cable & Wireless has signed up the English Premier League for the next two seasons!

Digicel hopes to move from being a mobile phone company to include data, broadband and cable TV. In this it is playing catch-up with Cable & Wireless so the battle for the Caribbean is on.

It is in the nature of things that each week there are winners and losers. We hope to be among the winners but experience tells us these hopes do not always materialise.

There is another kind of hope, one that radically changes our outlook. This hope is not a team, a business deal, an idea or thing. It is a person – Jesus.

But it’s not enough to say that reliable hope is in Jesus, it’s more pointed than that. Reliable hope is Jesus! In his life, death and resurrection the believer’s life is infused with hope and we don’t need to search for it any longer. We are released into a life useful to God and our neighbours.

St Paul expresses well in his letter to Titus Chapter 3 verses 4/8. But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

The death yesterday of Brian Friel, who was Ireland’s greatest living playwright, has brought forth many tributes. His prolific output over many years justly earned him global acclaim.

At the core of his writings is the notion that our sense of what happened in the past owes more to our imagination than it does to our memory! He is reputed to have said that an autobiographical fact can be pure fiction but added that it is no less reliable for that!

Many of his plays are based on the imaginary village of Ballybeg, located in the Glentees in Donegal. There he was able to draw on his childhood memories and colour them with his vivid imagination to produce the many memorable characters that fill his work.

When he left school at 16 he went to Maynooth College to study for the priesthood. After two and a half years he left describing it as an awful experience which he never talked about. Perhaps it emerged in “Dancing at Lughnasa” where the sister’s brother Fr Jack returned from the mission field in Africa having imbibed the pagan customs of the people. Friel audaciously mixed priestcraft with witchcraft as Fr Jack enthused over the local equivalent, the harvest festival of Lughnasa, jettisoning his priestly duties.

There are recurring themes in Friel’s plays. As one critic put it; somehow it is always Ballybeg, it is always August, the day is always waning, and the world is always ending! His characters were always feeling there way through life, lacking assurance, never certain. There was a sense of the melancholy about them which in the hands of good actors morphed into the struggles of real life.

In Shakespeare’s “As you like it” are the lines; ‘All the world’s a stage and all men and women merely players. They have their exits and entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts.’

These secular views of playwrights who depict the human condition without God travel through the avenues of time as if Jesus had never been born, lived a perfect life, died in the sinners place, was buried and rose from the dead and is alive for evermore.

For them and their characters the earth is void of certainty, void of salvation. Its as if St John’s heavenly vision where the saint glimpsed the glory to come never happened…”I looked and behold, a great multitude no man could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb (Revelation Chapter 7 verses 9/10).

But it has happened! St Paul states categorically that those in Christ will be there “Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him in the heavenly place in Christ Jesus,…by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God not a result of works so that no one may boast. We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians chapter 2 verses 5/10). Amen!

What happens when the top performer in the class is caught cheating and it is discovered he has been at it for the last 6 years? Germany has been disgraced. Her moral authority dented. All this happened at a time when it was acting as a role model in European affairs.

‘How the mighty have fallen’ might be the quote from King David that occurred to Angela Merkel when she contemplated the fall-out from the corruption revealed in the flagship of German industry. To make it even more wounding the computer mechanism which did the damage was discovered by the Americans. No chance of keeping it quiet now!

In fact, as the land of lawyers sharpen their claws, Volkswagen have hired the legal firm which represented Shell in their massive law suites over the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to represent them!

So what did they get up to? The deception centres round a piece of software which sensed when the cars exhaust emissions were being tested and switched the engine to trap the toxic output. To leave this in place uses more fuel so it switched back when the test was finished and polluted away happily blowing nitrogen oxide into the air adding to the woes of emphysema, bronchitis and other suffers of respiratory diseases.

The scam affects 11 million of its diesel models and, as this is not a fault which would be covered under its Product Recall insurance, (it was done deliberately) the company have had to set aside €6.5 billion to cover the costs of rectifying the problem. I expect claims for damages will have to be added to this figure. In this matter Volkswagen are at the mercy of the US criminal system.

Deception for gain is one of the oldest tricks in the book. “You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah and a just hin…you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules and do them: I am the Lord” (Leviticus Chapter 19 verse 35/7). The measurements had to be correct. Short measure is sin (Romans Chapter 3 verse 23). The Bible calls all those who cheat an abomination (Deuteronomy Chapter 25 verse 15).

As usual we can see the sin most clearly in others and are myopic when it comes to ourselves! This double standard is highlighted in Romans Chapter 2 verses 1/4 when the Apostle writes that God is patient, while we go in for this “passing judgement on them and yet do the same things”, in order to give us time to repent.

This patience is picked up by St Peter in his 2^nd letter Chapter 3 verse 9 where he says that the Lord is not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance.

Don’t cover up the pollution in your life like Volkswagen but come clean with God whose grace in giving us what we don’t deserve – a new life, made possible through faith in our sinbearing Saviour.

As the African believer put it “He die, me no die” that is the ultimate experience of love.

Donald Trump’s trumpet made an uncertain sound, perhaps for the first time in the US Presidential campaign, when his crude remarks to Carly Fiorina about her face were met by a measured response which put Trump in his place. Prior to this incidence he has lampooned and insulted his way into the hearts of the grassroots Republicans by walking all over the 10 or so competing hopefuls turning the Presidential debates into entertainment.

In a land where money talks Trump the billionaire speaks with a loud voice. So far he hasn’t shown any ability to deal with the economy or foreign policy but has gone for the populist votes proclaiming the building of a 1,000 mile wall to keep the Mexicans out. Another part of his immigration policy is to send all undocumented home – at the time Obama is trying to have a law passed to legalise many of them.

We have had some dealing with Trump in these islands. His mother was a McLeod from the Isle of Lewis in the Scottish Hebrides so it is not surprising that he should buy the Sand Dunes at Menie in Aberdeenshire for his “world class” golf course. He has also built a hotel and plans some up market homes on the site. These plans have been put on hold as he has locked horns with the planners who have approved an offshore wind farm at Menie. Donald feels this would spoil the view and, as he likes to get his own way, there is a stalemate.

In the meantime he has placated himself by purchasing Doonbeg hotel and golf course in Ireland for €15 million!

Donald made his money by turning around his father’s real estate business when he was still at college. He then purchased old skyscrapers in good locations and refurbished them as hotels sometimes cladding the outside with reflective sheeting. These became “Trump Towers” which he has built in a number of famous locations. He also exploited the neighbouring “air space” purchasing it to extent his hotel (in a similar way to our planned development at Grace!) in city centres where sites where hard to find.

By comparison with his other utterances he has been muted on issues of faith. He says he is Presbyterian and goes to church on Sunday when he can and always at Easter and Christmas. Unlike other candidates he has made no claims to be “born again” and sees his Christianity as related to job-creation.

The Bible does not do democracy! There is no voting. The most obvious example was the appointment of the shepherd, David, to the position of King. Samuel the prophet had the task of anointing God’s chosen man but made the mistake of looking on the candidates external appearance. God however looks on the heart and chose the humble shepherd – the despised job – as the future King (1Samuel Chapter 16 verse 7.

This virtue of humility marked out Christ, David’s greater son. St Mark writes of how the rulers lord it over their subjects but the followers of Jesus are not to be so. They are to be like Jesus and serve one another. “For the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (chapter 10 verse 45).

That ransom makes servant leadership possible for believers today.

On Thursday this week we had World Suicide Prevention Day. On Friday the UK Parliament threw out the Assisted Dying Bill by a large majority.

Meanwhile in California the opposite happened. The State Legislature yesterday joined four other States in approving a bill which would allow terminally ill people end their own lives.

Here in Ireland it is a subject that demands our attention. Data released recently show that in the European Community we have the highest suicide rate for young women and the 2^nd highest rate for young men.

There are things that promote suicide such as drink and drugs. They are more usually the symptoms of inner disquiet and despair than the reason.

The bottling up of problems adds to the difficulties in sharing anything but the more acceptable sins, whilst a dark cloud continues to shroud the big issues. These thrive by being kept secret and can end up so distorting ones thinking that the only “decent thing to do for everyone’s sake” is to suicide.

The frightful thing is that this distorted thinking seems so right to the person having these thoughts. It has been likened to a pilot flying in fog and unable to see the horizon or the ground but is convinced he is doing the right thing. He may have a very strong feeling that he is going up when he is going down. It is vital that he disregard his feelings and follow the instruments no matter how much they contradict his intuition.

Now the pilot is at an advantage as he has been trained to trust his instruments and, although the potential suicide may have been well brought up, even trained in the scriptures, the dominant feeling is that they know best. In fact the delusion is so powerful that it may have fatal results.

It is so vital to speak. Other cries for help may not be understood. Words make it plain.

What advice can we get from the Scriptures?

St James writes that healing comes when we confess our sins to one another (James Chapter 5 verse 16). Obviously you choose someone you can trust and is a good listener.

St Paul says to choose a Christian partner, never unbelievers (2 Corinthians Chapter 6 verse 14). Always, throughout scripture, where this rule was broken God’s people stopped following Him and ended up in a mess.

Jesus said “love your enemies” (St Luke Chapter 6 verse 27) – in other words go from thinking about yourself to thinking about others and their needs.

These are big asks – but we have a big God. The Psalmist said “In your light we see light” (Chapter 36 verse 9). He can dispel the darkness and let you see more clearly how much you are loved.

Jesus Said “I am the way the truth and the light” (St John Chapter 14 verse 6).

Cling to Him!

The UK Prime Minister called it a swarm others a migration as refugees, attracted by the relative stability and prosperity of Europe, headed west.

They form two broad categories; economic migrants and asylum seekers.

The plan is to repatriate the former and allow the latter to remain.

This plan is contested by some European states the most vocal of which is Hungary. Their Prime Minister played the religion card when he said Hungary would only take Christians not Muslims! He has belatedly discovered that Europe’s identity is rooted in Christianity a fact that has been noticeably absent from the EC’s recent laws! Why has he gone there?

It has been said that the Old Testament is the last refuge of a rogue!

Perhaps the Hungarians are aligning themselves to God’s desire for purity in Israel when they took possession of the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 7 verses 1/11)? This was a purity that eluded them despite Joshua’s farewell speech pleading for separation from the peoples of the land, their practices and their gods (Joshua 23 verses 7/13). Something has to account for the miles of razor wire now surrounding Hungary’s borders.

God’s desire was always that through Abraham’s seed “all families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12 verse 3). That blessing came through Jesus (Galatians 3 verse 16) so that in Christ there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Let’s look to the day when the barriers and razor wire, that we so readily erect to protect our little corner from the ‘other’, are made obsolete by a uniting faith in Christ.

Instead to trying to keep refugees out, we should be inventing ways to receive them and engage them in worthwhile work.

Our current travesty of shutting refugees up in hostels on €19.00 per week is pathetic. Perhaps it will take the present crisis to do what countless reports have failed to do and that is to show respect to those who have come to our land for refuge.

Could God’s hand be in all this? In the main refugees come from countries where Gospel works are hampered by the imprisonment or execution of missionaries. Perhaps the Lord is sending them to us so that we don’t have to go to them! Perhaps the love and compassion we show to them will be the catalyst that will make the refugee want to know the Jesus who has transformed our lives?

Listen to St Paul, who came from a position of great scholarship and a promising career, as he testifies to his new life in Christ. “Whatever I had I counted loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (Philippians 3 verses 7/8).

Let’s pray that great good will come out of the current debacle.