- Steve Richards
- Jul 6, 2023
Just over 60 years ago my dad purchased his first car. It was a second-hand Ford V8 Pilot. If you haven’t heard of it, that’s hardly surprising, Ford’s Dagenham plant only produced them between 1947 and 1951. This Pilot was to be our family car from when I was 10 years of age until I was 14. I really liked it having, as it did, a number of special features, one of which was the radio set. I readily associate the car with holidays and the Merseybeat records playing on the radio’s Light Program.
Why was the name Pilot chosen by Ford? I’ve no idea! The word ‘Pilot’ has about a dozen shades of meaning but essentially describes one that steers, guides or paves the way for that which is following – a pioneer if you will.
Many years later, I got a Ford Pilot of my own. The acquisition of that Pilot was exciting. However, when I was 27 years old, I did receive an infinitely more valuable type of ‘Pilot’. This was when I became a Christian – meaning one who trusts in Jesus. He is a unique pilot; a pioneer, as he has gone ahead of us, through death and has risen again to life.
If you believe there is a God, have you ever wondered what he is like? Well, after becoming a Christian, I soon came to understand that he is just like Jesus in character and purpose; in fact Jesus is the human face of God.
Today he is inviting all sorts of people - the well-off and down at heel; those of all shades of colour; the lawbreakers and upright; the religious and non-religious to surrender the steering of their own lives and allow him to be their personal Pilot.
A relatively small number of Ford Pilots do survive but, just like our own physical bodies, they’re going to fail. Jesus is the way ahead for his followers and has promised them that, just as death wasn’t the end of it for him, nor will it be for those who trust in him.
- Steve Richards
- Jun 1, 2023
It is now a month since the coronation of King Charles III but before we file the event in our memory banks marked ‘special occasions 2023’, I’d like to flag one repeated theme in the coronation service. I have in mind the laudable notion of the one in high office serving others rather than being served by them. Jesus was referred to as ‘the one who came, not to be served, but to serve…’
King Charles promised, with God’s help, to rule in a similar fashion. Who can doubt that this is a good and noble thing, something which would benefit us all if politicians and, indeed, all who hold authority aspired to do the same.
When Jesus spoke words about himself not coming to be served but to serve, that was in fact only the beginning of the phrase he used. This is what he actually said, ‘even the Son of Man [Jesus] did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’
If, as in the coronation service, we simply dwell on the first part of the sentence, then Jesus is just giving us an example of how to live our lives. If we only see Jesus as an ethical teacher who was prepared to live out what he taught, then we will miss the ‘good news (or gospel)’, which he came to bring about. The second half of the sentence says, ‘and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ Jesus primarily served by giving his life over to a violent death through crucifixion.
The idea of Jesus himself being a ransom price, giving his own life in order that God’s righteous judgement might be diverted from me to him, is not a popular notion these days. Nonetheless, this is the crux of the good news Jesus brought to us.
Perhaps you grew up knowing this but modern sensitivities have muddied the waters for you. The popular hymn, ‘How great thou art’ is a good reminder of the Christian message:
‘And when I think that God His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die—I scarce can take it in.
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin’.
That’s how King Jesus served…
- Steve Richards
- May 4, 2023
The coronation of King Charles III will be in the form of a Christian religious ceremony. Traditionally, at the moment of the actual coronation, the choir invokes God’s Holy Spirit; the Sovereign sits in the Coronation Chair; four Knights of the Garter hold a canopy over the chair; and, concealed from view, the Archbishop anoints the Sovereign with oil (symbolic of God’s Spirit). This is the most solemn part of the coronation service, for by this anointing the monarch is set apart for the duties of a Sovereign.
The coronations of England’s kings and queens have been consciously conducted in the presence of Almighty God predating the Norman conquest. This is in recognition that there is a higher authority than the monarch and that the power to rule well will derive from God.
There is something for us to consider here: If kings and queens need to acknowledge that there is a higher authority than themselves i.e. God, shouldn’t we also? If kings and queens need divine help to fulfil their God-given purpose for this life, don’t we? Your current role may be that of a care-worker, schoolteacher, plumber, grandmother or office manager. Whatever it is, it can, and I believe, should be done as if working for God. Perhaps such a notion is alien to you - the following may help.
The Christian message is one of calling. God sent Jesus to call men and women to himself and so to God. As he is the King of all kings, it is his right to rule over each of us. We can live as rebels or, as pictured in the coronation, we can willingly acknowledge him as our supreme King and, in return, he will ‘anoint’ us with his Holy Spirit. Put simply, this anointing means God will take up residence in our hearts or soul or spirit – however you wish to define the real ‘you’.
Did you notice in the coronation described above that the anointing of the Sovereign is done outside of public view? When God reaches out to us at the time of our own ‘calling’, it is something that takes place away from public view, an intimate interaction between us and God.
As citizens of this country, we all, by default, are subjects of Charles III. Likewise, as creatures made by God we are his subjects – how does this make you feel?