Page 14 - June 2016 Issue 303

14 THE NEW COUNTESTHORPE HERALD
NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE CHURCHES
JUNE 2016
I wonder whether like me you look back to a ‘Golden Age’ when life seemed so much better. Many of us look back to our childhood years, in my case the 1950’s, and bemoan what we think has been lost over time in terms of values, standards or traditions. The national celebration of the Queen’s 90th birthday has no doubt encouraged a lot of reminiscing as we all look back over the years of her reign and what has changed for her and for us too over those decades.
It is funny how the so-called Golden Age is always back there
and back then in our minds. I do wonder whether as human beings
we all need a ‘Golden Age’ to
relate to - especially when modern
life tends to throw us more and
more into troubling new national and world situations, new and ever puzzling technology, complex political and economic issues, let alone the stresses of modern everyday life and relationships. It is significant that the story of humankind as related by Hebrew Scripture starts with an idyllic time, a paradise on earth, the Garden of Eden. This golden age, however, is soon spoilt by human disobedience and sin - the wanderings in the wilderness, the struggles to claim the Promised Land, the division of the tribes into two Kingdoms and the exile in Babylon. On their return to Jerusalem the exiles were constantly looking backwards to the Golden Age of the Davidic Kingdom and longing for its re-establishment through the promised Messiah.
THEN AND NOW The Golden Age ...?
newcomers, then and now, who often are most open to new possibilities, while the established insiders long for their own idea of the Golden Age. I am convinced that every church and faith community today often holds on to its own golden age - back there, back then - when things were better, churches fuller, more people doing things etc, etc. But it is also I believe true that our treasured golden ages all too often get in the way of God’s new work before us. As the early Church gradually began to understand that God’s offer of salvation was open to ‘all who called on the name of the Lord’ so the Church began to be a powerful new sign of God’s Spirit at work in the world - proclaiming Christ, challenging the way things were, turning the world upside down and inside out.
It had all begun with Pentecost, but it could not stop there. Because the good news is that the Golden Age is not sometime back then, whenever then was. No, the golden age is NOW, and every now yet to come. Indeed, it is the journey itself, as we encounter the living Christ again and again in new and unexpected ways, in the new and unexpected people we meet along the way. If we are open to the Spirit then there will be many more new ‘pentecosts’ to be experienced as human hearts respond to the touch of the Spirit, convicting, healing and transforming lives.
The Revd David Hebblewhite St Andrew’s Church
CoutHerald150_Layout 1 23/03/2016 09:44 Page 1
Even the two-thousand-year-old history of the Church begins with a golden age of its own. The Day of Pentecost heralded a new beginning for God’s people. The Spirit fell with power on the believers and transformed them. The gospel was proclaimed accompanied by mighty works of power. A new community was born - with believers all of one heart and mind, sharing all that they had with one another. However, not surprisingly, this golden age - like all others - does not last long.
The later introduction of newcomers who were somehow different from the insiders created a problematic situation. Some of these ‘outsiders’ were viewed with suspicion. They had not been part of that golden age, they didn’t know the rules, they didn’t fit in. And yet, it is these
Honest Reliable Helpful Responsible
Here Ready
to help you
We’ve been around a remarkably long time but we remain committed to providing traditional first class service and highly competitive mortgages and savings accounts
Call into see us at:
69 Station Road, Countesthorpe
Tel: 0116 277 8384
Open Mon - Fri: 9am - 1pm; Sat: 9am - 12 noon
28 Blaby Road, South Wigston
Tel: 0116 278 6152
Open Mon - Fri: 9am - 4.45pm; Sat: 9am - 12 noon
Modern savings Traditional service
The Society is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority. The Society's registration number is 206043