The Teapot of the Spirit

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation (Isaiah 12.3)

Have you ever felt what it is like to run on empty?

So much to do, so many problems, so little time

Not allowed to stop, rest, recharge

Afraid you’ll collapse, not make it

Ready to die?

That’s life

Our human experience

But not life as it is meant to be

We’re like a teapot

Well made

Some good stuff inside

Able to choose where to pour it – usually

Lid safely on

In fact, lid so safely on

That when the precious liquid is gone – it’s gone

And we’re done

No-one can fill themselves up again on their own

Others can help a bit – but it only goes so far

We’re done

Now imagine that’s not the end of the story

That someone far greater than us can lift the lid

Pour in new water

Get us going again

Not just once – but for ever

Streams of living water, flowing in, flowing out

Just like when Jesus was in the upper room

Peace in, peace out; joy in, joy out; Spirit in, Spirit out.

That’s it; that’s what coming to Christ is about

What getting confirmed really is

The trouble is, we don’t always remember to take off the lid

Which makes a mess, not tea.

So – what’s the lid, and how do we make sure it’s shifted?

I’ve talked about how we are wonderfully made

And well filled to start with

The trouble is, we forget the Maker

We grow a sense of self that is self-centred, self-sufficient

Even self-ish

We forget the Maker, or rubbish him, or just try to go it alone

And then, because of course aren’t really the Maker after all

We can’t cope and get scared

We go wrong and get guilty

We try out other ideas and get confused

And so the layers build up

Now perhaps you can see why

When someone gets baptised and confirmed

I ask them to turn again to God

To say sorry

To say they want to give up trying to go it alone

They can’t take the lid off themselves

But know they know again a man who can

And when we ask, he does

And the Spirit comes, and lives in us again

With joy we draw water

from the wells of salvation.

And in that day we say:

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name

Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things

for great is the Holy One amongst us.

Before we go any further

Let’s pray now

Lids off

Spirit come.

Filed under: Sermons and Talks, theology

Avatar

Sophie Lister has an interesting theological reflection on the film Avatar called One of Us in the Damaris Culturewatch series.

She makes the analogy between Jake’s progression from his paralysed human form to the liberating strength of his Avatar self and the Bible’s teaching that Christians will have new, everlasting bodies in the life to come: ‘Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.’ (1 Corinthians 15:43), and also Paul’s teaching of a struggle in us between what she calls two ‘selves’ – the weak earthly self or ‘flesh’, and the stronger, real self or ‘spirit’.

It is when we live as this ‘spirit’ prompts us to that we experience true freedom to be ourselves, just as Jake finds that he is actually more ‘himself’ as an Avatar than as a human. Eventually he chooses to make the full transition of his consciousness into his Avatar self, an event which he refers to as his ‘birthday’. Christians look forward to their own new birth in the life to come, the end of the struggle between their earthly and spiritual selves when old bodies are left behind.

I’m not sure the analogy really works, in the sense that Na’vi life and resurrection life are not really comparable; but three cheers for Damaris’ continuing mission to help old fogies like me keep up to date with culture and be able to refer to it in what we say. Thank you!

Filed under: Films, Media Matters, theology

More Cambridge Journals On-Line

The Journal of Ecclesiastical History  60th volume, final part, is now available online, and to mark this occasion CJ are offering free access . Leading articles from the issue include Avihu Zakai’s work on The Theological Origin of Jonathan Edward’s Philosophy of Nature and Kathleen Thompson’s paper The Other Saint Bernard: The ‘Troubled and Varied Career’ of Bernard of Abbeville, Abbot of Tiron.

The editor, Iain Torrance, of the Scottish Journal of Theology (SJT) has chosen some of the best articles to appear over the last 60 years from the newly digitized archive, including:
What Happens in the Eucharist?
David F. Ford
Understanding Romans in the Light of 2 Corinthians
Frances M. Young
Kant’s View of Immortality
A. C. Ewing
The Lamb of God
G. Florovsky

To access all 20 articles in this selection, click here.

Filed under: Resources, theology