Return from Athens A : Moth and Rust

Leaving a place, we become possessed with our possessions.

   - The things we have that we don’t want. 

   - The things we have that we can’t take with us. 

   - The things we have that we don’t want to let go.

Stuff takes on an undue importance when you’re leaving a place.

So it’s good to reminded by Jesus familiar saying, that the “stuff” we own is temporal, gets corrupted by moths and by rust, and other destructive forces. **

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, 

where moths and rust corrupt, and where thieves break in and steal

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” 

The thing that we often don’t think about is the corrupting power of the “stuff” itself. Or, not so much the material possessions themselves, but the effect they have on us, especially on our relationships. The ownership of things tends to play on our emotions big time, stirring up the baser instincts of our sinful selves, the envy, selfishness, the greed and jealousy.  And this is intensified at times of loss, or displacement.

On the larger scale, the destructive effect of “stuff” on relationships is seen at times when there's a death in a family, where the simple reading of a will can quite literally tear that family apart.

On the micro scale, it happens as well, with us, for example. As we sorted through, sold off, packed, or otherwise disposed of our belongings and our life over this last 18 months since arrival in Greece, there arose all sorts of minor disputes and tensions over this thing and that thing. 

This word of Jesus, then, has been so important for us these past two weeks.

Important to be reminded that, even though the “stuff” is important for us as we relocate back to N Ireland, our “heart treasures” need to be deposited elsewhere, safe from corruption and decomposition. It is that focus on the  “heart treasures” that will help heal those relationships when they become corrupted by the "stuff".

** Matthew 6:19-21

The Cross Before Me

 

The sight of the simple iron cross at the top of Korakas Hill which stands opposite our house in Athens takes me back to last year, and especially those weeks spent in lockdown when we walked in those hills. It’s a reasonably easy scramble up to the top, and once you’ve recovered your breath, you can look down over the whole city of Athens, see the Acropolis in the far distance, and down to the port of Piraeus.

It is a simple structure, this cross, just two pieces of steel welded together and wedged into the rocks, and is not obviously associated with any shrine or religious memorial. 

Often, when the weather turned wild, either with great clouds scudding across the sky or a morning mist covering the hillside, the cross would hidden from view. But you would always know it was there. 

At other times, it would suddenly emerge with the orange light of the setting sun, or in the early morning light be silhouetted against the rising sun.

Either way, it was a constant reminder of the religious foundation of this land we had come to live in. Even though Greece has become increasingly secular, there are still many indications of that strong religious heritage, and more importantly, evidence of a new emerging spiritual vitality through the work of Christian churches and mission organisations here.

For us, this cross, has been a physical marker, a reminder of God’s presence, a symbol of his constant care and protection, watching over us, as it were, from up there on the hill. 

Once again, in this evening light, I stop and give thanks for the opportunity we had to live and work here.

Then back to packing.

Where's Home?

The other day Anna said “we are travelling from a home that is not our home, but has been our home since August, out to our home that was once our home, but is not our home for much longer. After that, we return again to this home, that is not our home, but will continue to be our home until we discover the place that is to become our home”. 

What's a home then? To answer that properly, you have to set aside thoughts of geography and place, and think more relationally. Who is it that you are at home with? Where does your heart feel most at home? The well worn cliche says that home is where the heart is. Well, if that’s the case then our ‘home’ is probably somewhere south of the Thames! Or, one of any number of places where we have strong memories and where we had developed close relationships. Lisbon, Athens, Coleraine, Rahimyar Khan.

Back to our travelling out to that home in Greece this week. 

Over the next few days, we will be consumed with stuff. 

Clearing out stuff, throwing away stuff, selling and donating stuff, and also packing and shipping stuff. 

And the stuff that we will be packing and shipping will be the things we consider most to constitute our ‘home”. 

Our relational ‘Peter and Anna’ couple-home. 

And deciding what that is will be the hardest thing. 

There will be  lot of minimalising, a lot of decluttering, simplifying, or whatever you want to call it. 

And probably a lot of arguing as well. 

In a sense, we will be packing up our tent.

John, in his gospel (and still with the Christmas story) uses an interesting Greek word to describe what Jesus did when he was born in Bethlehem. It says that he ‘set up his tent’ and lived among us. The word “Εσκηνωσεν”,  comes directly from the word for tent, or temporary dwelling, and is only used in the Bible here in John, and also, interestingly, in the Book of Revelation, where it says that “the One who sits in Heaven will ‘spread his tent’ over them.”  That’s the eternal dimension of where home is, and where our future ‘campsite’ will be. 

For now, let’s find out what the temporal dimension will be for us next. 

Where next, will we pitch our tent?

** John 1:14, Revelation 7:15

Epiphany

The Sixth of January, being the Twelfth day of Christmas, is when the Christmas season officially draws to a close, and all decorations, mince pies and turkey sandwiches should all be done away with! 

Living in other countries, we’ve realised this day is a much bigger deal than it is in Ireland. 

Here it is called Epiphany. 

In Portugal (and Spain) it is celebrated as the Day of the Kings, connected with the Wise Men with their gifts. 

It was always a big holiday there, and often the giving of presents to children on this day is as important as it is on Christmas Day itself. 

In contrast, for the Greeks in the eastern Orthodox tradition, the “Epiphany” or revealing of Jesus as God has more to do with his baptism than with the visit of the wise men. It is in his baptism, and the descent of the Spirit as a dove when he came out of the water that Jesus is revealed as the son fo God. 

So, in the 6th January, all over the Greek speaking world, especially ports and harbours, the ‘blessing of the waters’ ceremony that takes place. The priest, will go down to the edge of the sea, surrounded by a large congregation, and, as part of the ceremony, he throws a cross into the sea from the harbour wall or from a boat.  The minute the cross leaves the priest’s hand, many boys and men jump into the freezing water in a race to be first to catch the cross. The one who finds it and returns the cross receives a special blessing from the priest. 

Baptism. Wise men. It seems to me that Epiphany, the revealing of who Jesus really is, is not just a single moment in time, but an ongoing process. He is revealed in the breaking of the bread (as with those two men in Emmaus after the resurrection) He is revealed on the Mount of Transfiguration, on the road to Damascus, and so many many other times. In fact when we, as Christians, like Paul says, carry about in our lives the suffering of Jesus, then his life is revealed in our mortal bodies. ** 

It is revealed in the way an Afghan believer faces up to his exile from home and family. 

It is revealed in the love of a young mother when her babies’ incessant crying tears at her heart. 

It is revealed in the compassion of volunteers as they rescue refugees from a sinking boat. 

May that same ‘Epiphany’ of the life of Jesus happen in my life today and through this year.

** 2 Corinthians 2:11

A Bit Like A Dream

At times it all seems a bit of a dream.

How we moved to Athens in July 2020, lived there just under a year.

How we came back to N Ireland in June of this past year.

And how we are now planning to return to Athens this month to vacate our apartment, pack and sell things, and come back.

So as we start this New Year, it seems like a good idea to think through all that happened.

And to list all that we can be thankful for in 2021. 

In fact, it was not as hard as you might imagine. 

We were able, (in spite of the one BIG thing that happened that changed everything), to come up with 52 good things we were thankful for.

One per week, if you like.

Things for which we are really grateful. 

God has been so good.

A lot of those were people whom God brought into our lives in 2021.

Wonderful friends. Encouraging friends. Supportive friends.

There’s also simple memories, like celebrating New Year 2021 round an open fire with friends.

Or trudging through two feet of snow in the forest above our house in early Jan.

Or the white shadow of a Scops owl silently passing by on its nocturnal hunt in the early hours of a January morning as I sit on our balcony.

Or the familiar chatter of the Sicilian warblers who are nesting on the hillside across from our house.

So many magical memories.

It almost seems now a bit like a dream.

To have lived in Athens for less than a year, and seen and done all that.

God doing so much for us and in us and through us.

And, most importantly, to know that it didn’t end there when we left in June. 

That others are continuing. 

That God has been adding to the ECM team we were privileged to start.

That He is continuing to bless.

So, for 2022, we want to continue.

Surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses, as it were.

Running the race that is set before us.

Looking unto Jesus, the one who began it all, and who will bring it to completion.

Isaiah promises me this morning, that we will be …

     “..like a well watered garden

          …like a spring whose water never fails.”

                    MAY IT BE SO!

** Hebrews 12:1,2. Isaiah 58:11