At Creation God set the pattern of a day of rest in every seven day period. A Sabbatical is an extension of this pattern – in the Baptist Church, a quarter (3 months) rest every seven years. It’s now 14 years since my ordination, I served for 20 years as a volunteer in ministry prior to that (as many of you do, or have). I admit to having felt tired for the last six months; not exhausted or burnt out, but more emotionally tired than physically or spiritually. I have a fairly good “work/life balance” most of the time – not perfect, but sustainable. But I’m ready for a break.

At College, when discussing Sabbath, I remember someone saying “we don’t rest from our work, we work from our rest“. I dismissed it as semantic nonsense at the time, but I’ve never forgotten the phrase and have reflected on it often, and now know it to be truth. Following the pattern set by God in Genesis, we work from our rest; we work from the energy we gain through resting. Our Sabbath rest was never intended to be a pressure valve from overworking. Rest shouldn’t simply be about recovering. We should reset and re-energise to enable us to work for the next day/week/season.

It has been said that a Sabbatical allows us:

“…to dramatically disconnect from life and work as usual and explore who we are at our core and bring ourselves more fully to God and His call upon our lives. Extended Sabbath time can be especially important for a time of transition into a new phase of life or ministry.”

My responsibilities at RBC have changed dramatically in the last seven years, and the transition had to be managed through/alongside the global pandemic, a transformation of the Ministry Team, some significant challenges, and overseeing a Building Project. So I’m looking forward to that “dramatic disconnection” and the space & time it will afford me.

As the Rev. Ricky Rew from Rayleigh, of course the best way I can think to help explain my Sabbatical is with five alliterative points beginning with R:

Release – put down the many responsibilities of leading the Church and shepherding the people; some have said that leading a Church is like herding kittens – leading a large Church even more so…

Rest – enjoy the “spacious place” (Psalm 18:19) which is created when you don’t have a daily/weekly/monthly routine, or a calendar to constrain you; family time – doing as much or as little as we want to, quality time

Reset – it’s time to evaluate my established disciplines, priorities & rhythms, and where necessary, to reset them to ensure my long-term spiritual, emotional and physical wellbeing

Reflect – on the past 7 years; what has passed is important, but what lies ahead is more so; the former is the foundation for the latter; to help me reflect and learn I’ll spend time reading & studying, with 4 key areas of focus for prayer & reflection (see below)

Restore – see image above – the car on the left requires more than a little attention & maintenance; notice that the cars are still the same “vintage”, some characteristics may change (one is left-hand one is right-hand drive), but generally in much better condition at the end, and arguably fit for purpose once again; I can’t promise I’ll come back looking any better, but hopefully both feeling and functioning better.

Key Themes:

• Personal Discipleship – time with God in prayer & praise; listening for His voice and further exploring & understanding how my call has changed; and resetting my own spiritual rhythms/practices
• Ephesians 4 – this passage was how God challenged me about my change of call from a focus on Youth/Children to “general” ministry, so I’m going to spend some time in Ephesians 4 in particular, and exploring the five-fold model of ministry (Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, Teachers)
• Leadership development – this is an area I’ve long had a personal interest in, and relating to the “equipping” element of Ephesians 4, I have a passion to pursue;
• Ecclesiology & Church Growth – this is specifically something I feel God has been nudging me about and given our recent experiences, it’s something I’m a bit reticent to explore, but I want to be obedient to God’s plans for us; God has been growing us in our discipleship and Spirituality, and also numerically, and when I shared recently some of the possible ways we might respond to that growth (and deal with the challenges it presents) there was a real excitement amongst us – so I’m going to be thinking about distributed models of Church / new expressions / planting.

I know it’s not unheard of for Ministers to return from their Sabbatical and announce that they’re moving on, and I’ve had a number of people ask me if I plan to do that. So I want to reiterate two things that I’ve said at different times and in different contexts:

• I’ve promised that I will be obedient to God’s call when I hear it (if you know my story, you’ll know that’s not always been the case) but “what I have vowed I will make good” [Jonah 2:9]
• I have never been more convinced of my call to Rayleigh Baptist than now

I have no intention of moving on, and not even a tiny inkling that’s what God has in store… [that will either delight or disturb you ]

It has been said that “if you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life“.

Whilst there have been some difficult and painful challenges, I thoroughly enjoy my role, working with the RBC leadership team in the broadest sense (Staff/Elders/Trustees/Ministry Leads) and I count it a privilege to shepherd the Church Family (or herd the kittens – whichever picture feels most appropriate).

We have an exciting new chapter ahead of us, and although I’m looking forward to the break, I’m also looking forward to what God does amongst you whilst I’m on Sabbatical, and to what He has in store for us as we continue the adventure together when I return.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

²⁶ As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. ³² Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. ³³ When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. ³⁴ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. ³⁵ The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” ³⁶ The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar ³⁷ and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” ³⁸ There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews. ³⁹ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³ Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Luke 23: 26, 32-43

Three Crosses:

Jesus is in the middle, with one criminal on his left, and one on His right.
To those watching on there was very little to distinguish between them;
Three men – all pretty much naked, no status, no possessions or riches;
Seemingly no power, and their reputations in the gutter;
All of equal standing in this moment – all three convicted as criminals;
No chance of a reprieve.

There is a difference though: a sign above Jesus’ head reads “this is the King of the Jews”
But it didn’t afford Him any status either – it was just there to mock Him;
And the soldiers charged with crucifying Jesus also mocked Him:
“if you’re really the King of the Jews, save yourself“
The people simply dismissed Him and watched on

Two criminals:

We don’t know their names,
We don’t know why they were there: perhaps convicted as robbers, rebels, or revolutionarys;
But these two men deserved to be there and they knew it;
They knew their crimes, and knew deserved their punishment.
Both had an encounter with Jesus that day,
In their final hours they came face to face with Jesus
Both recognised Him as Jesus – the long-promised Messiah, the Saviour

One Innocent Man:

Jesus was convicted as a criminal, but guilty of no crime;
The Jewish leaders had grown jealous of His status and influence,
So they conspired against Him, brought false charges and engineered false witnesses.
Jesus had been arrested after being betrayed by one of His close friends;
The Roman authorities could find no fault in Him, no basis for a charge to stick,
But the Jewish authorities were insistent,
So the Romans took the easy route and gave in to their demands

Three Crosses / Two Criminals / One Innocent Man

Three Deaths:

All three of those men died horrific deaths that day:
Designed to be painful and prolonged,
Designed to be a warning and a deterrent to those watching.
Three deaths that day – one innocent man, and two criminals.
But what’s more important is the responses before their deaths.

Before His death, Jesus forgave the soldiers who were crucifying Him;
What about the criminals?

Two Responses:

In their final hours they came face to face with Jesus and knew they couldn’t just ignore him;
They couldn’t dismiss him as the crowd had done:
Something about Him demanded a response.
Both men responded to Him very differently.

The first: deflected from the situation and mocked Him:
“if you’re really the Messiah, save yourself”

The second: defended Jesus:
“you’re about to die too – don’t you fear God?”

There’s one part of the their response which was similar:
The one who defended Jesus called on Jesus to save him
“remember me when you come into your Kingdom”

The one who deflected, also called on Jesus to save him
“if you’re really the Messiah, save yourself & and us!”

But Jesus knew that request wasn’t genuine:
One man asked Jesus to save him, but that man didn’t believe;
One man believed.

“But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”

John 1:12

One Man Saved:

Jesus’ responded to the second man with a promise:
“today you will be with me in paradise”
I have every confidence that Jesus honoured that promise and welcomed him into Heaven

Three Crosses, Two Criminals, One Innocent Man
Three Deaths, Two Responses, One Man Saved

“For God made Jesus, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Jesus.”

2 Corinthians 5:21

Just as the criminals on the cross discovered, Jesus demands a response…

What’s your response to what you’ve read:
– dismiss Jesus – as the crowd did when they just stood watching?
– recognise Jesus for who He is, but mock Him as the second man did?
– or recognise Jesus for who He is and call on Him as Saviour as the first man did?

A year ago today I was a little bit hasty getting up off the floor after putting on my shoes, and less than a second later I had injured my knee. It was a tiny, seemingly innocuous movement, which subsequently had a massive impact on my year. After the knee was manipulated under anaesthetic I was told I’d probably be able to drive the next day. Sadly, that proved not to be the case and I didn’t drive for the next 8 months.

There have been complications along the way, some medical, others administrative. The first was having had the accident in Milton Keynes and being referred for an emergency MRI scan, but then needing to have that scan in Essex instead. The second was a blood clot in my knee and DVT in my calf which went undiagnosed for two weeks after it was missed by the first consultant, but when diagnosed, it delayed any possible surgery.

After the MRI scan the first consultant said I’d detached my meniscus and was referred to a specialist surgeon who agreed with the diagnosis and described the complex surgery required and the recovery process. After being bounced between surgeons, hospitals and waiting lists, when I finally had a consultation with my eventual surgeon, he looked at the same MRI scan and said he was convinced I’d torn my meniscus but he couldn’t see any detachment. Fast forward to surgery day and it turns out the meniscus wasn’t detached or even torn, but just needed a stich to tighten it. When I asked how three specialists could look at the same scan and come to such different conclusions, and ultimately get it so wrong: no answer.

The surgery was a complete success, but the six months delay prior to surgery had taken its toll. The muscles and tendons in my leg had atrophied and rehabilitation became a battle to return not just strength (which I expected) but to return elasticity to my hamstring. Post-surgery it was a full three months before I could fully straighten my leg. As I started to straighten my leg it became clear that something else was going on as I had excruciating pain on the opposite side of my knee. A further consultation back to the Surgeon revealed that I have arthritis on the end of the bone, which explains the pain.

Whilst I’ve been incredibly frustrated at times by delays and lack of communication within the NHS, I cannot fault the individual care which has been provided by the small army of people I’ve encountered over the last 12 months. I’m incredibly grateful to my wonderful family for their patience, understanding and support, and the care and encouragement of my colleagues and the Church family.

As I write, on the one year anniversary, I’ve been without my crutches for one month and I’m making progress every day. I’m walking every day and doing physio exercises every other day. I’m now able to walk to and from work (approx. 2.5km a day) but have managed up to 6km in one day, though it takes a toll. It finally feels like I’m on the home straight. I’d love to get back to running again, but my next target is getting back to walking the kind of distances I used to run.

I have a scar on my hand which is a reminder of a very middle-class accident. Whilst washing up a coffee pot a little too vigorously, I broke the glass and it pierced the skin at the base of my thumb. I felt absolutely no pain, but almost passed out when I saw the blood. It needed to be checked out medically, but I was soon sent home with steri-strips to hold it together and aid the natural healing process – no stitches required. I was medically advised not to wash up for two weeks – I didn’t need telling twice!

Last year was a bit of a blow out in oh so many ways.

One of the lessons I’ve learned again during this year is that life is short and unpredictable, and we need to make the most of every moment we’re blessed with. This lesson hasn’t been taught through close personal tragedy (though there have been tough times) but through news from friends and their tragedies. A number of friends & acquaintances have been diagnosed with Cancer in recent years, many this year. Some have been successfully treated, others are in the midst of their treatment, and some have been taken all too soon.

Jesus Talks With A Samaritan Woman

I’ve never been a victim of racism, and I don’t live in fear that I will. I understand that puts me in a privileged position.

I feel outrage at the death of George Floyd, and saddened at the way those protesting for justice have been treated. But I know I don’t fully understand the horror of the situation that others feel so acutely.

In some ways I don’t feel that another white voice is needed; that there are many more black voices who can speak/shout more eloquently, more intelligently and more powerfully than I can. But that misses the point. We each have a voice – black or white – and those voices should have equal value.

As someone who has never been the victim of racism, it can be hard to talk about racism. I’ve been very publicly accused of being racist. And so I often refuse to comment – not out of fear, but out of a sense of disqualification.

But my silence adds weight to the knee on the neck of George Floyd and countless others who have gone before him.

Kneeling is usually a gesture which symbolises submission, deference & respect. But the policeman who knelt on George Floyd’s neck used it to exert force & ultimately expel life.

Symbolically, I kneel alongside those who are protesting on their knees as a mark of peace in spite of their anger and rage, and in the face of outrageous provocation; and I kneel with the Police Officers who have acknowledged their unconscious part in systemic racism through the Police Force, and have taken to their knees to diffuse some of the fear & anger of the people they’re policing.

Black lives matter. And black lives are as precious as any other.

Recently we had a couple of children (9 & 11) who expressed a desire to be baptised, both having come to faith a short while ago. We were thrilled, but aware that we’ve not baptised children before and that our usual ‘prep’ wouldn’t be appropriate. Ahead of the Baptism service at Easter, I produced a two-sided worksheet; the first side for them to complete with their parents prior to the service (looking at Jesus’ Baptism & the Great Commission), and the second to be completed during the service with any words/actions they didn’t understand.