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172402547625000399097547625000-59055047561500Christ Church Stocksbridge-100330100330Tuesday 5th May 2020400000Tuesday 5th May 2020Crane Moor Methodist ChurchGreen Moor Methodist ChurchDear FriendThis week I got to wondering: “Where did Jesus get his timber from when B and Q was shut?” The thought came to me as I was doing a bit more on building my shed, and I needed some more timber. In fact I only needed a bit because about 90% of the shed has been made using re-claimed timber that I have been putting to one side for over ten years. Not all of it is still in the best condition. Some is rotten. And because it is re-claimed there are nails and screws in it, and chunks of it are damaged or got drill holes through them, or mis-shapen ends where they have been pulled out of old joints. I’m quite proud of it, and one day will get a chance to sit down in it and have a freshly brewed cup of tea.The real challenge has been how to make best use of each piece of wood. You can see the same thought process in our cellar and our attic. We live in a terraced house, which was a new-build in 1904, near Hillsborough stadium. You’d have thought the builder would have used new timber for the roof purlins and the ground floor load bearing beams. Not a bit of it. You can see where the builder re-used old beams from somewhere else. And where the beam was too big for what he needed, he just stuck it through a hole in the attic wall into next door. You can still see the drill holes from their previous use. I always wonder where that was.When Jesus was a carpenter, in Palestine, wood was a very precious resource, because in that climate there was not so much of it. If you go on holiday to Austria you will see the chalets all built in wood, because they’ve got a lot of it. If you go to Greece, you’ll see a lot more small stone houses, because they’ve got a lot of stones! It’s called building in the vernacular style; using the local materials which push you to use particular, local, designs. And of course Jesus was working as a carpenter in Nazareth, in a relatively poor community, away from Jerusalem, where he might have got more lucrative commissions. He would have been compelled to be very careful about what new wood he bought, and he would have been a fantastic re-cycler of second-hand wood.Any old carpenter can get a bundle of new clean timber and cut things to the correct size, knowing it will all fit together. And not take any care when cutting about your left-overs, because you don’t give a thought for the spare pieces you are cutting off. You won’t need them. You’ll start with another new piece. It takes real artistry to take a pile of wood where no two pieces are the same, and still build something that works, and looks OK. You have to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each piece of wood, and think carefully how to use it, and where it can go. You have to adjust how you use it so that you don’t cut through a tender part of the wood, or try to cut through a hard knot leaving a potential break-point later. You have to accept that different sizes can be melded together to make it all look OK, and work; a strong and functioning shed. And if you can’t make this piece of wood fit, then you turn over the old wood pile until you find something that you can use. And you keep every piece, no matter what shape or size, no matter for how many years, because you never know when it will ‘come in’. So my thoughts wondered on to how Jesus was with his disciples and those he met. He used those same personal skills he had learned with his word-work. He didn’t require regulation sized people either. He didn’t find people who all fitted together easily. He didn’t have a troupe of supporters who all had the same load-bearing capabilities, or the same beautifully sculpted finishes. He led the people who came to him, and he worked with them, to fashion them into a band of brothers and sisters who would follow him to the ends of the earth - quite literally. He used their peculiarities to the best effect. He helped them to fit together, with all their differences. He helped them to bond into a strong band of disciples.Well, it’s not a big leap, is it, to realise that he leads us in the same way still. We are all different. We all have our soft spots and our hard knots. Some of us are bendy and some of us are brittle. Some of us are more damaged than others, but we all show the marks of life and the previous experiences we have been through. He calls us each, and values us each, and treasures us each, and keeps us all ready for when he can use us. No matter how long he has to keep us before we are ready for his purpose.So like Jesus didn’t need to go to B and Q to get nice clean new timber, neither did he need go to the HR company to get disciples who all had perfect CVs. He opens his arms and invites us to be of use to him. Whoever or whatever we are. And he re-uses us for his purposes, again and again.Other news.I think this week we need to think especially of Kevin Wild’s family, who are having to cope with the sudden and tragic death of their sister Janette. It is her funeral on Monday at 3.50. There is a limit on who can go, so Kevin is not able to be there, which must be awful for him. We will all be holding Kevin in our thoughts and prayers at that time and in the coming days and weeks.At Green Moor we send our condolences to Phyllis Dowkes, who is the organist; her sister Jean died last weekend, and likewise we hold that family in our thoughts and prayers.Some more people have joined us online and so we welcome them.Margaret Jarvis is thrilled with how many people have got in touch with her about making one of the ‘Spud Bears’. The Missionary Aviation Fellowship flies in to some of the poorest places on earth to be a comfort for little children in missionary hospitals and elsewhere. Over 20 have been made so far. Norma had one in her window. So if you have a bit of time on your hands (!) Margaret can supply you with a kit of material etc., and a set of instructions to stitch and sew another one.11811004133850I’ve run out of space again. Love and peace to you, and I hope you can join us on Sunday for worship. The details for where it is are at the foot of the page.Rev Ian Lucraft ................
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