Introduction
‘Thank you, Terry, for making us feel the world was a cheerier place’. BBC Radio Director Helen Boaden’s words in the Independent this week were just some of the many tributes to Sir Terry Wogan, who died on Sunday. As we strive to illuminate the lectionary readings for this week, we reflect on the importance of shining a little joy into the lives of those who might hear our message.
Context
We seem to have lost a lot of well-known and much loved people from the public arena recently, such as David Bowie and Alan Rickman. Following the death of Bowie, some commentators warned against conjuring up sentimentality around celebrities we like to think we know, but don’t really. But it is the surprise departure of Terry Wogan from this world’s airwaves, following a brief illness due to cancer, that seems genuinely to have touched the lives of so many people this week. Why might Sir Terry be different?
Reflection
Those who knew Sir Terry might say that the difference between the Wogan you heard or watched, and the one you met in person was wafer thin. What you heard or saw was what you got. He has been hailed among the BBC greats, such as Ronnie Barker and Eric Morecombe, but Terry wasn’t an actor or performer in the same way as the likes of these. It is said of some of his radio sketches, for example Janet and John, that he didn’t rehearse, prepare or even read through his material. He simply lived what he was doing and saying, as if he were talking solely to one other person.
Sir Terry’s 50-year career on radio and television, meant that many of us have woken up to his sultry Limerick tones on the radio in the morning, or watched him at teatime as we wound-down from a day at school or work. He was also, for many years, the much loved and cheeky voice of Eurovision in the UK, and had been involved in the Children in Need appeal since it began in 1980.
In Exodus 34.29 the skin of Moses face shone, because he’d been talking with God. How many times have we grinned listening to Terry on the car radio on the way into work, only to look at the person in the car next to us in the traffic queue to see their faces also shining due to hearing his cheeky banter? Unlike Moses, it seems people weren’t afraid to go near Terry. He was the people’s friend. Whilst a veil may have been drawn over his life, many faces will still shine when they think of him.
All of our lectionary readings for this week reflect a glorious God, but one that is also somewhat frightening. These are the bright lights and shining whites of close encounters. Yet St Paul (2 Corinthians 3.12-4.2) positively encourages us to lift the veil and encounter God, so as to be transformed by God’s glory. If our lives are changed by shining encounters, then we should share our joy, not hide it. So it was with Peter at the sight of Jesus on the mountain with Moses and Elijah! Let us celebrate this shining encounter and mark the occasion! Even though Jesus was discussing his ‘departure’, the glory of God radiated out from that moment.
This week whilst we celebrate the life of that shining face of broadcasting that is Sir Terry Wogan, may we reflect on those joyful encounters, in all moments, when God’s Spirit moves freely among us in fun and laughter. Whilst Terry’s faith may have been shaken by the loss of his daughter, his gracious approach to living will remain an example to us all. When he shared his final broadcast, he told his listeners: ‘The years together with you have not only been a pleasure but a privilege. You have allowed me to share your lives with you. When you tell me how important I have been in your lives it’s very moving. Yours have been every bit as important in mine.’
We are called each new morning to risk a face-to-face encounter with God. As our faces shine with the joy of each experience, so may we broadcast God’s glory to one and all.
Prayer
This is personal prayer, but it might also conclude a time of the sharing of the Word.
‘This is my own dear Son, listen to him!’
Glorious God,
we thank you for the joy your Spirit brings to our world
through those who have genuinely, tenderly and wholeheartedly
touched our lives.
We thank you for the gift of loving laughter,
and for words sincerely spoken.
Help us to bring both joy and compassion to each individual we meet,
always genuinely welcoming, never intimidating.
May we listen to your Word
and so live out your grace,
with our faces achingly shining.
Amen.
Questions
- Many people have paid tribute to Terry Wogan this week. Which people have shone brightly in your life? Why?
- Do we ever speak to each other about our ‘departure’ (Luke 9.31)? In the light of recent obituaries, talk to people around you about how you think people might react to your ‘departure’?
Action
Just last week, a nine year old girl was walking with her mother past the nursing home opposite her church, when she noticed through the window an elderly lady sat on her own at the dining table, slumped forward as though asleep. The girl turned to her mother and said: ‘That makes me feel really sad? I wish there was something we could do to cheer her up.’ This got her mother thinking about what their church might do to bring the light of joy into the lives of those who might be living in their community and feeling sad. What might your church do to shine some light into the lives of others?
Young people
Does death seem like a distant and far off thing to the young? Jesus talked about his ‘departure’ (Luke 9.31), how does the thought of death make you feel? Talk about the deaths of celebrities recently such as Terry Wogan, David Bowie or Alan Rickman. Who will you miss when they’ve ‘departed’ this world, and why?
Tim Lowe is a minister of the United Reformed Church, serving churches in the north of Coventry and as Chaplain to URC Youth Executive 2016, and is particularly interested in varied visual art forms as expressions of faith.
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