We were sitting in a restaurant on the Isle of Jersey when a snippet of conversation floated across the room. The speaker, a young Englishman was informing two Portuguese waitresses why the Queen of England was visiting Ireland. “She’s gone to get her island back” was his confident summary of the tangled web of Ireland’s history which had culminated in this state visit. What it lacked in knowledge it made up for in simplicity! The old tensions created by religion and ethnicity have been largely overtaken by the notion of `citizenship` which today has replaced the idea of `subjects` owning allegiance to the crown. Symbolically this was seen in the handshakes which welcomed the Queen rather that the bowing and curtsying of former times. Her daunting programme of events was performed with the dignity and respect of one, who at age 85, has got the ability and intelligence to carry it off. One wag wrote that having to endure a performance of the Westlife band meant we could call it quits for 800 years of oppression! There was the impression that the dismantling of the British Empire which may well have begun in Dublin in 1916 had reached its conclusion back in Dublin in 2011. We are now neighbours not poor relations – not a word about our present straiten circumstances! What has the Bible to say about how Queens function? It must be said that a brief look at the subject yields mixed results. The Queen of Sheba was known for beauty and had an eye for business in the gifts she collected on her visit to King Solomon. Queen Esther was not only beautiful but courageous. Her dependence on God enabled her to put her life on the line memorably summed up in her conclusion, “If I perish I perish” Esther chapter 4 verse 16. Then there was Jezebel, but the less said about her the better. 1Kings chapter 21 gives a flavour of her character. In the New Testament King Herod’s wife Herodias infamously had it in for John the Baptist. He had told her husband that he could not marry her as she was already married to his brother. Herod went ahead anyway and had John the Baptist locked up. This gave Jezebel her opportunity for vengeance and when her daughter’s dancing pleased Herod, who foolishly offered her whatever she wanted on the advise of her mother she asked for John’s head on a plate. John’s death gave Herod no peace as he imagined John had come back from the dead in the form of Jesus – St Matthew chapter 14 verses 1 & 2. What he failed to do was to listen to Jesus when he had the chance instead he looked for a miracle. No the Queen is not looking for “her Island back” just taking the chance to put the past behind and looking towards a future as those who are equal in the sight of God.

A lot of newsprint has been used this week to highlight the plight of house owners repaying mortgages which are higher than the house is worth. Their task has been made harder by the shrinkage in jobs with many unemployed or working a reduced number of hours per week resulting in much lower incomes. The Master of the High Court called for debt forgiveness and reckoned the threat of re-possession by the banks was driving people to suicide. He wanted the Bankruptcy Laws to be updated. The Minister for the Environment said that they were being looked at and a Bill would be published next year. He expressed concern for the “moral hazard” of writing off one person’s debt and expecting his neighbour to pay all of his debt. The Journalist took the high moral ground by claiming the banks were going after the public who have been called upon to bail them out! The picture is painted of the mighty bank taking the poor mortgagee by the scruff and shaking the last cent out of him. It is especially abhorrent since the bank itself through massive greed pressed people into taking out such large mortgages in the first place. Can the Bible shed any light on the matter? The classic example of debt forgiveness occurred in the parable of the unforgiving servant. (St Matthew chapter 18 verses 21 to 35) In it the massive debtor (the Bank in our times) has its debts forgiven by the King then goes after the tiny debtor whom he treats without mercy demanding payment in full. So what kind of debts does a lender forgive? Those where there is no possibility of ever being repaid. If there are assets the lender will take those rather than writing off the debt. It is only in cases where there is a complete inability to repay that forgiveness becomes the remedy. Jesus, who told the parable, was simply making the case that sin incurs a debt. The context is “If your brother sins against you go and show him his fault” (St Matthew chapter 18 verse 15) In the parable the King was owed an enormous sum of money and the debtor made the familiar plea for more time to pay it off. Ten lifetimes would have been insufficient to repay it and that assumes he would not add to it in the meantime! God is the King and we are debtors. We cannot ever make restitution. Our debt to God is incalculable. The wonder of grace is that Jesus paid it. St Paul writing to the church at Colosse (Chapter 2 verses 13/14) shows our state and our standing. “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” The greatest debt forgiveness happened at the cross. There the sinner who believes in Jesus has his debt cancelled. It is the place of reconciliation to God.

One of the delights of my youth was to see the Saturday matinee Cowboy film. These American imports usually had a poster of the bad guy whose picture appeared under the word “wanted” with the offer of a reward for his capture “dead or alive” to encourage the good guys to go after him. These posters would be nailed to trees in the bad guy’s neighbourhood causing the bad guy to adopt a disguise to conceal his identity. All of this was great fun as we watched the film come to a satisfactory end when the bad guy got his just deserts. Events of this last week when Obama got Osama reminded me of these Saturday matinees! Only this time it was played out on the world stage not the cactus country of the Wild West. The cinema screen has just got a whole lot larger, sinister and the make belief turned into harsh reality. In the excitement of the event there has been a gloating over the efficiency of our killers as opposed to the indiscriminate killing of the suicide bombers. The lust for revenge has sometimes over-ridden the satisfaction of justice, even rough justice, being done. What does the Bible have to say? In this period between Jesus coming and His return we no longer live in a theocracy but in a state of common grace where the administration of justice has been granted to secular states. God’s laws do not apply in many lands and even in nominally Christian countries they have been diluted to match the will of the majority. So we have secular justice now and divine justice later. The former is always imperfect but the latter, since God knows the secrets of the heart, (Romans Ch.2 verse 16) will be perfect. We may take satisfaction that secular justice has been served, but Christians should display a sober restraint. 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 and pray for those who persecute you”. Secular justice curbs evil but does not eliminate it. We leave the final justice to God. At the end of the day, where would we any of us be if Christ had brought in final justice instead of bearing it on behalf of his people? At Calvary, Christ willingly offered himself as the lightning rod for God’s wrath against sin, the good guy becoming the bad guy in our place. The events of 9/11 did not change everything in the way that the events of 33 A.D. did. Nor will the death of Osama bin Laden on 1/5/11 satisfy the final justice that awaits him—and all of us—on the last day. We need to ensure our faith is in “the eternal purpose of God which he accomplished in Christ our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with confidence”. Ephesians Chapter 3 Verses 11/12.

This week the general media gloom was penetrated by a well conceived and brilliantly executed Royal Wedding. No one put a foot wrong and what was even more remarkable for such an occasion all appeared to behave naturally. Certainly the flower-girls didn’t have a problem. The smallest one’s reaction to the noise she heard from the balcony of Buckingham Palace when she screwed up her face and covered her ears with her hands was as comical as it was spontaneous. However William and Kate were allowed centre stage, a position Kate took to like a duck to water. There was no flaunting of glittering jewels and the foregoing of presents in favour of donations to 26 named charities augers well for the future. Wasn’t Bono who once said, “fame is currency” and these new royals have it in abundance. How they spend it remains to be seen but they have made a good start. What has the Bible to say to all this. The big plus was they got married. True they might have done it sooner but as modern people they bucked the trend and tied the knot. With Charles Perry’s paraphrase of Psalm 122 ringing in their ears we were brought into the holy city – Jerusalem. The bride’s brother read superbly from Romans 12 verses 1/3 and 9 to 18 and the couple wrote one of the prayers themselves. God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage. In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy. Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.  Surely a first for the monarchy! The homely also majored of the generosity of our God: “William and Catherine, you have chosen to be married in the sight of a generous God who so loved the world that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ” The wonder of this gift was elaborated upon later in the service when mention was made of William and Kate’s union in marriage as being a reflection of the union between the risen Christ and His church – a monogamous union for time and eternity. We were treated to more of Perry, “Blest pair of Sirens” was sung beautifully with the choirboys at their best. The event concluded with the singing of the British Israelites anthem “Jerusalem” with its powerful music and heretical words – a real British wedding. Apparently an audience of 2 billion globally witnessed the event. A triumph for British marketing but a limited opportunity to explain the Gospel. So may our prayer for them be like King Solomon’s in 1 Chronicles 1: that they might have ‘wisdom and knowledge’ to use their celebrity status wisely, that they might create some ‘happy-ever-afters’ for others as well as for themselves.

“We want revenge, and we want blood” said a protester in Azra, Syria. A total of 81 protesters were shot dead in cold blood when the security forces were unleashed on them in a number of Syrian towns yesterday. “We are not scared anymore,” said another protester in Douma, a town on the outskirts of Damascus. “We are sad and we are disappointed at this regime and at the president. Protests, demonstrations and death are now part of the daily routine.” Blood-letting as a means of solving grievances is not restricted to the Middle-East, we in Ireland have made our contribution to this least effective way of righting wrongs. Easter sharpens the focus with Passion Plays and Processions to the Papal Cross in Phoenix Park reminding us that there is an intimate connection between redemption and blood. What then is the place of blood in the Bible? From the very start the Bible indicated that sinners can only approach God on the basis of shed blood. That’s why Abel’s sacrifice was accepted and Cain’s rejected. (Genesis Chapter 4) The preciousness of blood is equated with life itself- “The life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus Chapter 17) In order to establish this principle, animals for food were drained of blood. We have kosher meat in Jewish butcher’s shops today. Animals offered for sacrifice were donated by the worshipper on the basis of substitution – the animal’s life in place of the offer’s death. The practice is deeply embedded in the Old Testament. Forgiveness for the sinner and a right standing before God being purchased by the blood of the slain offering. When Israel came out of Egypt at the time of the first Passover, the blood of the Pascal lamb was sprinkled on the doorposts and lintel of their homes. Sheltering under the covering of the blood Israel was how God delivered them from bondage to the Egyptians. (Exodus Chapter 12) When Jesus came to celebrate the Passover for the last time he redirected his disciples’ act of remembrance away from the exodus from Egypt to his own death which was to be its fulfillment. 1Cor. 5:7. This brings us to the ultimate in graciousness as God the Father in full co-operation with God the Son makes a way through the blood of the cross to purchase a redeemed people for himself out of every tribe and tongue and nation. (Revelation Chapter 5 v 9) “We want blood” was the protesters cry only a few miles from Calvary where the ultimate sacrifice has already been made. It is not more bloodshed that is required but trust in the one who is our Substitute.

This week the last of the cattle were let out leaving the yard looking deserted after all the winter’s activity. The sheep, with their lambs now stronger on their feet, embarked on the trek to the fresh pasture at the top of the farm. The spring flowers, predominately yellow, give a blast of colour along the farm road and overhead the trees unfurl their fresh green leaves. The blackbirds, which on frosty mornings numbered over 20, have deserted us in favour of house building. A few of the finches remain along with the different varieties of tits that kept us company around the bird tables over the last few months. Hopefully some of them will avail of the nest boxes and remain in the garden for another few weeks. The first swallows have made their appearance despite reports of the severe drought conditions they have had to pass through en route from their winter quarters in Africa. All seems so normal – even to the car transporters bringing in new cars, albeit smaller ones, to the local car pound before they are distributed for sale. One could live in denial. The media have got it all wrong. There is no financial tsunami approaching off-shore. Even the accountants who audited Anglo-Irish Bank’s books said this week they couldn’t see a problem although the taxpayers will have to foot the €29.3 billion shortfall. One commentator reckons that civic morality went down the tubes with the passing of the last of the revolutionary generation in the 1960’s. Since then we have had a “socially defective value system” and so it all went horribly wrong. Are there any parallels in the Bible? Everything seemed so normal at the start of the first Easter week. There were crowds in Jerusalem for the Passover and another Messiah to be welcomed. This one named Jesus showed more promise and, hadn’t the donkey ride been prophesied by Zechariah? Was this really the King? Would Herod simple abdicate? As much chance as a disgraced banker handing back his bonus! With the religious and civic authorities at one the young Messiah had no chance. He would meet an untimely end. All that he said about destroying the Temple and in 3 days he would rebuild it – unbelievable! Also this stuff about; “I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” St John chapter 10 verses 17/8. This was the language of a madman – unless, of course, he was the Son of God. His resurrection changes everything.

The women were involved in a non-violent protest objecting to the Corrib gas pipeline being installed by Shell. They were arrested on a public road last Thursday about 30 minutes after one of them had been taken down from the roof of a tractor hired for Shell’s preparatory work on the Corrib gas pipeline at Aughoose. Apparently they had been video recording the event and their camera was confiscated by the Garda. They were arrested but not charged and taken to Belmullet by car. The video recorder, which was switched on, travelled with 5 Gardai in the second car where it recorded 37 minutes of their conversation. The loose talk, somewhat reminiscent of what was caught on Prime Minister George Brown microphone and which may have cost him the last UK election, was duly recorded on the women’s recorder. No charges were made and the recorder was duly returned with the incriminating tape intact. The tape was made public ensuring that the conversation which contained sexually explicit remarks could now be broadcast by the media. The women, to date, have not made a formal complaint. The 5 Gardai are doing administration duties at Castlebar. What does the Bible make of all this? Words are important. They reflect our thinking. Just as Jesus Christ was called “the Word” He reflected accurately what God the father is like. The Bible puts it, He made Him known”. St John Chapter 1 verses 1-18. Jesus went as far as to say that we would be judged by our words. “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” St Matthew Chapter 12 Verses 36/7. Our problem is partly caused by what the old-timers called “the lust for the laugh”. St Paul, writing to the church at Ephesus, puts it like this; “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving”. (Chapter 5 verse 4). St James in his letter recognised the problem we have in taming the tongue – “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so”. Jesus sharpened the focus when describing where the problem comes from; “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person”. St Matthew Chapter 15 verses 18/20. The remedy is not to try to clean up the mess yourself. That would be like looking in the mirror and seeing your face was dirty trying to clean it with the mirror instead of using soap. The Bible, like the mirror, shows our need and says the remedy is not found in our efforts but in the blood of Jesus. As St John put it; “the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin” 1John chapter 1 verse 7. When God shows you your need turn to Jesus the only one who can save you for time and eternity.

In the past stress tests were applied to manufactured goods to ensure they could be used safely. Thus testing to destruction was the method and the product was produced with a warning which ensured that it was used at far lower stress limits. It is difficult to test a bank to destruction although the CEO of Anglo-Irish inadvertently did just that with his bank and, like lemmings blindly following their leader over the cliff, the other banks followed. The fact they were reigned in before extinction appears to have been due more to their inability to keep up with Anglo’s lending bonanza than prudent testing of their loan books. All this is history but was brought into the present this week by the publication by the Central Bank of the report on stress testing of our remaining banks by Black Rock Solutions who were themselves overseen by the Boston Consulting Group. The results produced a few more billions of Euro which, when added to the amounts already required, was rounded off at €70 billion! Naturally, when faced by such a mountain, alternatives such as default or “burning the bondholders” have been mooted by the more aggressive elements in our society. Tempting as they are, the short term gains they produce could well be followed by a long term in the economic wilderness. The possibility of making the guilty pay has been abandoned as they have spent their stash long ago! What has the Bible to say on these matters? The biggest stress test Jesus had to face during his ministry was in the garden of Gethsemane where he agonised in prayer till he literally sweated blood. His prayer was answered in the negative – there was no other sacrificial lamb – to be followed by the ultimate stress test of Calvary. Modern people have an enormous difficulty here. Having removed the word sin from their vocabulary, Jesus death is robbed of its significance. No longer, they say, “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace “. (Isaiah chapter 53 verse 5) Peace with God becomes another victim of modern thought as God is edited out of their thinking so Jesus death loses its vertical dimension and becomes simply another miscarriage of Roman injustice. But the poet has captured the truth: “T’was not the mortal pain he bore, when hanging on the awful tree, But his pure soul in touch with sin, that crushed him in such agony.” Jesus passed the stress test so that repentant sinners, who acknowledge that they have turned their back on the God who loves them, might have a way out of their spiritual wilderness. Banks cannot pay. Taxpayers cannot pay. Economically we need another way. This is paralleled with our inability to ever pay for our own sins we need a savour who was stress tested to death and rose again to redeem all those who trust in him.

We thought the Bishops had taught us a thing or two about “cover ups” but they are in the ha’penny place compared to the accounts of the leading players reported in this week’s publication of the Tribunal’s proceedings. The fact that it took 14 years to complete is due in no small way to the battery of expensive professionals those being investigated were able to muster to their defence. They did a monumental amount of work to provide evidence, under oath, of how the awarding of the mobile phone licence was carried out. Unfortunately the Tribunal’s Chairman did not believe their evidence earning the scorn and accusations of bias by those he was being paid to investigate. The Chairman then fell back on that old reliable – when all else fails follow the money trail! This led through a labyrinth of banks and bagmen before reaching its intended destination. Fortunately “numbers are chiels that dinna ding” or, for the benefit of English speakers, you cannot make numbers say one thing and mean another! If all this looks like corruption, smells like corruption… The Report has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions so we will find out the answer in due course. What has the Bible to comment on all this? Contrary to the folk religion notion “there is good in everyone” scripture starts from a very low view of people. From the fall the bias has been wrong. “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis Chapter 6 verse 5. All of us are deeply flawed – that’s why we need locks and laws, rules and regulations. When these are not applied with strong ethical values we end up in a mess. But where are we to look for these values? To the secular humanist? To the liberated female? To the enlightened atheist? To the latest scientific guru? Anywhere – as long as we do not have to acknowledge the existence of God! So long as we do not have to admit that the values we need come out of the Judaea/Christian heritage! It is in that admission of our need that we begin the painful journey of turning from self reliance to dependence on Christ. But, you may ask, cannot we have the values without the One who demonstrated them? Wasn’t the “Rich Young Ruler” commended because he was on the right track? (St Mark ch.10) Jesus loved him but required a changed lifestyle, in other words a conversion. The sin problem must be dealt with. The bias needs to be corrected. A “Christianising” of conduct may fool others but not God who has sent His Son to be our sinbearer. This world will always be in a mess but you need not be part of it. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the Life” – follow him all of your days on earth then forever more.

It simply gets better and better! Imagine a win over England at Cricket – a game scarcely known in Ireland. Indeed the rules had to be described over the national broadcasting service! This was followed up by the best ever result at Cheltenham. With 13 winners, we clocked up the highest number of Irish victories ever. This equalled England’s total with far fewer horses at the races. Then we had our world champion female boxer, Katie Taylor, lead Dublin’s St Patrick’s Day parade. Even our politicians performed well! Despite the fact of only being a week in office they took the White House in Washington by storm, securing the promise of a visit from President Obama to Ireland in May. In exchange for the traditional gift of shamrock our Taoiseach’s wife received a bowl of Virginia Violets for her garden in Co Mayo. Could this be the start of Ireland trading its way out of recession? And to cap it all as I write this blog Ireland is beating England at rugby in our new stadium in Dublin thus denying her the six nations championship! What has all this athleticism to do with the Bible? St Paul did write to young Timothy, “Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” Not much encouragement for those involved in the sporting life! In his first letter to the church in Corinth he explains how valuable training is for self discipline. Taking his cue from the love of athletic games in the Roman world – “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” So what did he preach? At the first opportunity after he met the risen Christ on the Road to Damascus he preached about Jesus. “At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.” Acts chapter 9 verse 20. And what was this eternal crown? St John in his letter to the church in Smyrna (Izmir in today’s Turkey) referred to the believers suffering but afterwards they would receive the crown of life. This is the victors crown that St Paul looked forward to, “And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.” 2Timothy chapter 4 verse 8. So we conclude, ”Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us looking to Jesus … who endured the cross … and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.