It was
because of a partnership arrangement between the theological seminary at
Geissen that first Jurgen and then Stefan joined us at Highbury.
Over coffee
this morning: it had been good to talk with Joel, one of the staff members, and
over lunch with Ford, another of the staff members.
It was great
testing out my views on the interpretation of Luke 10:25-37 and the way in
which Jesus was engaging very much in a Jewish way of discussing, and putting
forward a willingness to sum up in an over-arching phrase the whole of the Law.
Ford was
sharing reflections on his studies on the world of Jesus’ day.
Our
conversation followed on wonderfully from the reflections this morning on the
centrality of love in a hermeneutic, a way of reading the Bible that shapes our
ethics.
Our
conversation led on equally wonderfully to the final paper for our discipline
group on the New Testament.
As Peter V
Legarth was to give the paper he asked me to chair the session.
Do this and
you will live – Luke 10:25-37 was the subject of his paper.
It was the
first passage I ever preached on 42 years ago and more.
Recently, I
have come to a very clear understanding
of the way the parable works, shaped in large measure by Tom Wright.
I had been
warned at a recent training weekend by a colleague to beware of adopting a
single reading of passages of Scripture, and particularly warned to be a little
wary of seeing the New Testament simply through Tom Wright’s eyes and his
over-arching narrative of the Jesus of history.
This was a
timely paper.
Peter
offered us five different ways of approaching what was in Peter’s view a key
part of the conversation with the expert in the Law, and then went on to offer
an alternative view.
A heated
discussion followed with Sylvan, from a French seminary, himself a Jewish. From a reformed institute he took a more
Lutheran view than our Lutheran speaker.
But it was all interesting.
The point I
took away from a fascinating discussion was that it’s good to be reminded that
there are more ways than one of reading a passage!
One of the
most interesting thoughts that made me think afresh was the observation that
the conversation with the lawyer is followed not only by the Parable of the
Good Samaritan but also by the story of Mary and Martha.
Love your
neighbour … as the Good Samaritan does
Love God –
as Mary does
It was
excellent to have had the opportunity to share in discussion with people who
were prepared to put forward their ideas and then have others subject those
ideas to very rigorous questioning.
From our New
Testament group we moved on to the final paper of the day.
It was given
by someone who was a Medical doctor and had then studied theology and
missiology to Ph D level. Working a life
time
Mr Hannes Wiher
spoke on the theme. The Bible Mission
and Contextualisation.
A Swiss
speaking from the perspective of Africa he challenged Christians in Europe
suggesting they are comfortable Christians who do not go the roots and are not
radical.
He suggested
the challenge was for us to do three things:
1.
Reflect the missional dimension of the church in
theological reflection, in biblical exegesis, in systematic theology …. At every
point.
2.
Have the reading of the Bible and prayer at the
heart of your personal life
3.
Have the courage to witness
Thomas
Schirrmacher of the Martin Bucer Seminar, Bonn, Germany who had been doing our
Bible readings, and who had shared in producing a joint declaration on mission
bringing together the World Council of Churches and the Vatican spoke of the
way in which that joint statement spoke of mission as the essence of the church.
There were
things that challenged and made me think both in the context of teaching on our
course and also in the context of church at Highbury.
In the queue
for supper I got talking with Prof Pierre Berthoud who had been one of the
founders of FEET back in the mid 70’s with John Stott. He spoke of the enthusiasm they had all
shared, an enthusiasm he clearly retained.
It made me
think of the enthusiasm we had back at that very same time in going into
ministry and in setting up the Congregational Federation’s training
course. I recalled at that time reading
a little pamphlet by John Stott, Your Mind Matters. It had made a big impresionon on me convincing
me of the need for the church to be served by teachers and preachers who have
something to say that is worth while and that comes not only from the heart but
also through the mind.
I had often
referred to the booklet … but not seen it for many years. Until only a couple of days before coming
away on the conference when in a tidying up spree I have had in my study I had
come across it. It felt like making the
acquaintance of a long-lost friend! I am
prompted to revisit the book once more.
The
conference has been remembering John Stott who died since the last conference.
Over supper
I sat with the two friends who had come from the Bulgarian Congregational
churches and a third colleague of theirs who now teaches in the Belfast Bible
College and had given one of our earlier papers. I made a point of saying how much I have valued
what he had to say in his paper.
It then
transpired that he had met up with Janet Wootton, our Director of Studies, and
knew about our International Congregational Fellowship.
More
networking to be done as we exchanged contact details.
Supper over,
I joined Stefan for a lovely walk up the river from our conference centre – it turned
out to be a much more beautiful walk than the one we had taken earlier in the
week. We exchanged thoughts on preaching
and the conference and the impact it had made.
We reached
another lake and joined another member of the conference. An American, studying for a PhD in Edinburgh
he had just completed three months in Berlin researching a fellowship of churches
that Stefan knew well.
We ended the
evening comparing notes on the subject of his thesis and the process of writing
a thesis.
After the beautiful
sunny day we had enjoyed, it was glorious under a starry sky with a beautiful moon,
thinking of friends back home at Greenbelt!
I had glimpsed pictures of muddy boots only this afternoon!!!
And so our
conference is coming to an end.
I have to
say, it has been a wonderful experience – great to share with others in some
serious study. Great to network with so
many interesting people. Great to share
wonderful ideas. Better still, was to
have such a good amount of time with Stefan and to range over so many things
together. IT was a real surprise to find
so many students and teachers from the Geissen Seminary Stefan had attended …
and great to find myself on a wave length with them in all sorts of ways.
I take home
with me all sorts of things. A renewed
enthusiasm for the need to think through the faith if we are to share it as I
do in a teaching ministry. A renewed
enthusiasm for teaching on the course as that is a way of touching the heart of
many diffefrent churches through the ministry people share in those
churches. The challenge to prayer in
this afternoon’s session and to the reading of the bible and to witness too
came across strongly to me. Coupled with
that the need to reflect on our own context and the call to be in essence a
mission church. This is very much
something I want to return to at Highbury and also in the context of our
course.
Most of all,
I take home with me the very moving experience of visiting Berlin, the Church
of Reconciliation and seeing that the impossible can happen … and if that wall
could come down, other walls can come down too!
This will be
my final thought before returning home, though I hope to round off my
reflections when I get back. I come back
to that piece of art work Stefan pointed out from the coach as we drove past a
stretch of wall that had been preserved.
Many small
people
Doing many
small things
In many
small places
Can change
the face of the world.
Thank you for sharing this Richard. All sounds very stimulating. I especially like your reflection that if the Berlin wall can come down, so can others.
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