August 2021 Edition
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The Parish Magazine of St John Baptist, St Martin’s and St Peter’s £1 BROUGHTON OUTLOOK – October 2020 August Broughton 2021 Jesus said: "I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last." John 15.16 We seek to make Jesus known in our community, through our joyful, loving service and worship. It’s So Easy to Forget What An Amazing World We Live In BROUGHTON OUTLOOK August 2021 times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘Whoever murders Reflection shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to Anger, Aggression and Arms judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you A relative of a 15-year old boy knifed to death on his way will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering to school in West London on 11th June 2021 warned your gift at the altar, if you remember that your that there is a “pandemic of violence blighting the brother or sister has something against you, leave your country that is not being treated as a pandemic.” His gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to pastor said that “as long as it stays in inner cities and your brother or sister, and then come an offer your urban areas then it is not seen as a problem that needs gift.” (Matthew 5:21-24) to be tackled.”1 Jalan Woods-Bell joins the sad roll call of young men and women who have had their lives cut Jesus is not saying that the emotion of anger is sinful. short by other teenagers: Steven Lawrence (London He is saying that anger is dangerous and to be careful! 1993), Anthony Walker (Liverpool 2005), and hundreds Stand before the Lord as your gracious Judge and ask of others killed in the intervening years, mostly with yourself: “What am I angry about? Why am I angry? knives. What is an honest and gracious way to deal with this?” Then seek to resolve the conflict that angers you ASAP Millions of Americans seem to have an obsession with and do so in love. fire arms. Gun ownership starts before children reach school age. The Second Amendment to the U.S. Two American Christians suggest the following: Constitution gives Americans the right to bear arms, “Be the first to say “I’m sorry” or to offer empathy and and about a third of U.S. adults say they personally own compassion. Of course, this is not fair, but do it anyway a gun.2 This year up to the end of May 2021 there were because God does it for you. You can “Forgive as the 247 mass shootings in the U.S. (where two persons or Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13). more were killed). About 1.4 million people have died from firearms in the U.S. between 1968 and 2011 “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good including suicides, homicides and accidents.3 In 2021 to those who hate you, and pray for those who Brazil has the highest number of gun deaths in the persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in world, with a total of 43,200 out of the 250,000 heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the worldwide – a gun death rate of 21.9 per 100,000 good, and sends rain on the righteous and the Brazilian citizens. The United States has the second- unrighteous” (Matthew 5:44-45). highest number of gun deaths with 37,200.4 If we give in to angry feelings and justify them the next We express anger in different ways, with words, thing we want to do is to act on them and get even. Jesus’ gestures, facial expressions and physical acts. With the point here is not to seek revenge; God is gracious with advent of social media anger is increasingly vented on- you so you be gracious to others. Treat conflict and line – sometimes anonymously - as people feel injustice as an opportunity for God to bring out the best invincible and invisible and so type things they may not in you, not the worst, for you to grow in your capacity to say face-to-face or in public forums. And in the past few share the kindness of Christ. years authority figures, such as former President Donald Trump, have legitimised aggression by inciting “Do not judge, or you too will be judged… First take the violent actions such as the storming of the Capital plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly Building in Washington, D.C. on 6th January 2021. to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:1, 5). As Christians we are set a very difficult standard by Jesus. In the Gospel of Matthew he says: “You have When someone has a speck in their eye it hurts. They heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth need help getting it out. But you’re in no position to help for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. when you have a log in your own eye! Usually when But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the we’re angry we have a log in our own eye that needs to other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take be dealt with. Get help understanding and overcoming your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces the issues in your life – like control, self-righteousness, you to go one mile, go also the second mile.” (38-41) and unforgiveness – that underlie and arouse your “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient anger. 1 The Sunday Times 13th June 2021 3 URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United 2 URL: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact- _States tank/2021/05/11/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/ 4 URL:https://worldpopulationreview.com/country- rankings/gun-deaths-by-country 2 BROUGHTON OUTLOOK August 2021 “peace that passes all understanding” seems very Reflection distant. Our challenge is to learn ways of understanding, (continued from page 2) forgiveness, calm and neighbourly love even when we are angry. We fail often. And so we pray for forgiveness Then you’ll be able to see clearly and act each and every day. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful compassionately.” and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) God help us to be the There are numerous examples of how Jesus dealt with peacemakers in our families, with friends, in church and the anger of others such as the Pharisees – through in our community. staying calm, pausing to pray and think, using a story to get a point across, but being prepared to speak the truth 6 in love. He often answered a question with a question.5 URL:https://www.happyhealthyandprosperous.com/w hy-does-jesus-get-so-angry-at-the-temple/ Jesus demonstrated anger when he drove the money changers out of the Temple during Passover. He was Canon Andrea Titterington cleansing the Temple because the focus wasn’t on God in the place designated for worship. It was righteous anger. There is a time and place for speaking truth to power when we recognise injustice, cruelty and Our New Choir Booklet corruption: those things that our Christian faith declares contrary to God’s will for us. Jesus gets angry because of sinful behavior and injustice, because people were being hurt and cheated (quite possibly even women & widows—Mark 12:40), and because they made religion a matter of monetary profit. Jesus was angry in a few other instances: In Mark 3:1-5 Jesus “looked around angrily & was deeply saddened by their hard hearts”. In John 11:33 & 38, the Bible says Jesus was angry (in fact it says “deep anger”), but this anger was directed at death. Mark 10:13-16 says that Jesus was “angry with his disciples” and got onto them for their hindrance of children coming to him (also Luke 17:2). In Matthew 23 Jesus displayed verbal anger with the Pharisees saying things like “woe to you” and “you hypocrites,” “blind guides,” “fools,” and “you snakes, you brood of vipers”. In Mark 11:12-14 Jesus gets angry at a fig tree for not bearing fruit and curses it (basically showing anger at unfruitfulness—not doing what you’re supposed to do). Then on several occasions, we can see Jesus If you haven't yet received your complimentary copy of correcting his disciples and followers. the Choir Magazine 'Laudate Dominum', please do ask for one from the Warden on duty…and if you would The thing to recognize is that he was angry yet never like to take more copies, please do! sinned (Hebrews 4:15, Ephesians 4:26). Jesus got angry for the right reasons, but was never malicious or hateful As part of the Church's Outreach Policy, we hope that about it.6 And he always maintained self-control. regular worshippers will share it with their neighbours and the new residents in our ever-growing parish'; a There seems to be an atmosphere of anger and good way of introducing them to their local church, and aggression throughout the world at present.