Bishop John

2011 was filled with news of political turmoil and social unrest in places like Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria. The effect of this turbulence on minority Christians in these areas has caused increased difficulty.

Bishop Mouneer Anis from Egypt will be speaking at our CMS SummerView conference in a few days time.  We are holding a public meeting for those who want to know more about the situation in the Middle East and, in particular, how to pray for fellow Christians.

I am looking forward very much to the privilege of learning from Bishop Mouneer.

Please join us. Details of the meeting:

2-3pm Saturday 14 January 2012
St. Peter’s Church Hall,  17-19 Rice St, Port Sorell, Tasmania.

A flyer can be downloaded: here.  Also, Bishop of Egypt: Urgent prayer.

My Christmas Eve sermon this year began with a story about my grandmother’s heritage.

Just two weeks ago something happened that helped me to see my grandmother more clearly

I found an old book that I did not recall seeing before. It was this book, Come Ye Apart, a daily devotional reading with Bible verse and reflection. I opened the cover and found these words:

“1^st PRIZE FOR MEMORIZING THE 6^th Chapter of John’s gospel”!  

I knew something about my grandmother before finding her book. But in finding her book, I saw my grandmother more clearly, more wonderfully, than ever before!

And the date the prize was given? – 24/12/11 – 100 years ago today!

My heart jumped with joy when I read this and then I cried tears of love and thankfulness for my grandmother and this gift to me. A heritage passed on to me a century after my grandmother had gained it by memorizing Chapter 6 of John’s gospel account. Praise the Lord!

Something had happened that helped me to see more clearly.

WHAT DO WE SEE AT CHRISTMAS?

We see something we could never see ourselves – we see God

Imagine this Cathedral in darkness – Just like at the beginning of this midnight service. And then the lights came on and we saw more clearly.

AT BETHLEM SOMETHING HAPPENED.

What do we see?

–  WE SEE GOD.

We see God connecting with us – God living among us

At Christmas God came down and lived among us.

At Bethlehem, we see God more clearly than before.

–         WE SEE OURSELVES

Firstly, as what we are now – broken people

Eg, my broken foot! – It is hard to walk at the moment

We as individuals and as a society are broken. We have something wrong with us. We are not as we should be. We are unhealthy. We need help.

Secondly, we see more clearly what we might be in Christ

We see that we are loved. God loves all people, of all ages, religions and races. All people are one. We are all of one blood. Every perrson is of worth to God. We are not a randomn piece of space junk slowly diminishing on an aimless journey through a darkening universe.

A healed people: healed from our rebellion against God, forgiven by God;  and  

A forgiving people – forgiving others as we have been forgiven.

 A compassionate, hospitable, welcoming and generous people; accepting people who are rejected by others.

 SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED

When I found my grandmother’s book my heart jumped with joy – this was precious.

At Christmas, has your heart jumped with joy at seeing more of God?

How have you responded to seeing more of God?

PS  As I was farewelling worshippers following the midnight service at the Cathedral, Millie told me that she has the same devotional book, Come Ye Apart, as my grandmother. Also its companion book which Millie is using to this day. God is good. God’s people are a terrific mob!

My CHRISTMAS MESSAGE published in Tasmania’s three newspapers:

Hope for a desperate world

How has 2011 been for you? It has brought its challenges, has it not? I guess it will be remembered for such ‘natural’ phenomena as the tsunami striking Japan, extraordinary floods in Thailand and, closer to home, floods and fires in our country.

But it will also be remembered for developments rooted in human behaviour – the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, the European financial crisis, the Fukoshima nuclear disaster, the death of Osama bin Laden. And don’t get me started on Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan…

There was a Broadway musical in the 1960s titled Stop the World; I Want to Get Off but, hey, that’s not an option. Instead, I find myself frantically trying to get my head around what’s going on, to get a glimpse into the issues, to respond rather than react. Is the new ‘government’ better than the disgraced tyrant? Can the global financial crisis be solved? What role does greed play? And gloating? And unbelief?

Where does hope lie? For millions, the Bible continues to speak into our human condition with hope and sure guidance. A columnist in Melbourne’s The Age in early December, writes, “We do not see the Bible…as having any weight in serious matters, moral, historical...”, but offers instead only the ‘rational’ guidance of a liberal, secular society. In contrast, Greg Sheridan in The Australian observes that whilst it is possible to tell right from wrong without religion, “there is little to suggest we are making a success of it”.

Much controversy and chaos, but personally I’m glad Christmas is upon us once again. Christmas means hope; Christmas brings again a much-needed reminder of unchangeable truth.

God weeps for our world and the mess we are making of it and God has taken responsibility for our world by sending his Son.

Hope may be in desperately short supply for so many, but the Babe of Bethlehem brings just that, the sure hope that God loves us.

May you have a blessed Christmas as again we celebrate the Saviour’s birth.

John Harrower

Anglican Bishop of Tasmania

See also, Christmas video  and  Light of the world.

When legalising death opens death’s door, it’s not just a slippery slope but a mobile one direct to your door 🙁

AMSTERDAM — The main Dutch euthanasia advocacy group says it supports creating “mobile” euthanasia teams of doctors for terminally ill patients who want to die in their own homes, rather than in a hospital.

The Netherlands legalized euthanasia in 2001 in cases where patients are suffering unbearable pain due to illness with no hope of recovery.

Spokeswoman Walburg de Jong of The Right To Die said Wednesday the idea is a logical extension of its plan – not approved by the government – to create a clinic for patients who meet the criteria for euthanasia but whose doctors are unwilling to carry it out.

The number of reported euthanasia cases in the Netherlands rose 19 percent in 2010 to 3,136. A parliamentary-appointed commission is reviewing current policy. See, Dutch hold euthanasia inquiry.

From, ‘Mobile’ Euthanasia Teams Proposed By Dutch ‘Right-To-Die’ Group.

Also, Euthanasia Law a blunt instrument.

Jack leaping up from the ‘baptismal waters’ of the Derwent River; Bethany, Mitch, Anna, Stuart, Jo and many more Tasmanians who said ‘Yes!’ to Jesus in 2011.

This has brought me great joy.

God has brought you out of darkness
into his marvellous light.
Shine as a light in the world to
the glory of God the Father.

This affirmation from the baptism service assures us of the new state of the Christian: those who have turned to Jesus, trusted in him and have moved from darkness into Jesus’ light.

I recall the challenge of Dennis, my former tutor in economics, who led me to Jesus. We had been talking about John 1:9-12, verses close to the heart of the Advent season and Christmas,

(Jesus) The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. … He came to that which was his own, but his own did not accept him. Yet to all who received him … he gave power to become children of God.

Dennis placed his Bible on his knee and asked me, ‘Have you received this Bible?’

I answered, ‘No’.

‘What do you need to do to receive it?’

‘I need to reach out and take hold of it.’

‘What then to you need to do to receive Jesus?’

‘I need to reach out and take hold of him and receive him into my life.’

‘Will you do it?’

‘Yes, I will.’

How the angels rejoice with God’s people when we turn from darkness to light; to Jesus Christ, the Light of the world!

… Christ is the genuine light. He is the light that brings real illumination to men/people. There is nothing unreal or shadowy about the light which is Christ. (Leon Morris)

Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, calls us to shine his light in the world.

How do we shine? What does it mean to shine?

‘Shining’ has to do with faith, the act of receiving/trusting in Jesus.

Shining has to do with the power of being a child of God, which means faith in action, love, mercy and justice.

I think of a woman waiting in the medical room and listening attentively to the pain of a young mother. This concern led to the young mother coming along to a playgroup, receiving acceptance and support, and sometime later participating in worshipping the Light of the World.

Shining as a light in the world, faith in action, is so often simply our ‘being with, attending to’ our neighbour.

This Christmas, shine Jesus’ light into our community.

Christmas blessings, Tasmania!

A prayer from our Anglican ‘A Prayer Book for Australia’, 1995, ,

Almighty God, give us grace

that we may cast away the works of darkness

and put on the armor of light,
now in the time of this mortal life

in which your Son Jesus Christ came among us in great humility,
that on the last day,
when he shall come again

in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead,

we may rise to the life immortal:
through him who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.

Shalom,
+ John
Bishop of Tasmania

See otherarticles from the December edition of the Tasmanian Anglican, here.

Also, 2010 – Walk with the Light  and  my Christmas Video.