Recently I watched the most remarkable House of Commons maiden speech I have ever heard from their youngest MP,Worth checking out. Watch SNP MP Mhairi Black’s rousing maiden speech in full
In it she quotes Tony Benns classic quote about Weathercocks and Sign-posts, where spin around around pointing whatever direction the wind is blowing… signposts stand firm and true.
How often are we as Christians more like weathercock than sign posts?
Interestingly I was at chapter (a group of local vicars) and their was talk about the courage to be in a Church community trying to tell a different, bigger more Kingdom story… Easy to sell out, go native, adapt and compromise to buy into the lie that this is all there is and we are just a funeral chaplaincy service to the last generation of Christendom.
Let us be (despite the discouragement at times)people who are signposts of hope, continually pointing people to the bigger, more beautiful Kingdom of God with the treasures of transformation and life rather that spinning around and around directionless.
We talked about prayer, and a great quote from Chris, the new curate at Bradley Stoke, about needing to “Pray in the Pray-ers” and living differently knowing that it makes a difference. Being a signpost not a weathercock…
The challenge, even when no one else is doing it, even when you are shouted down and maybe even laughed at and mocked, let’s be people of integrity who stand firm for Christ.
Paul in his letter to the Church at Ephesus (ch 6) talks about the Armour of Christ before urging them to ‘stand firm’ –after all you can have all the Armour and still turn and run from the battle.
In Ezekiel 22, God talks about finding someone to stand in the Gap (for prayer and intercession) but found no one.
CT Studd once famously said that “he would live for Jesus even if no one else would”… I believe God is calling us to be a signpost not a weathercock, are we going to echo Isaiah (6) and say “here I am, send me”.
scruffyvicar 