Good Friday?

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has wondered why we call it Good Friday. Doesn’t seem to make sense does it? The King of the universe nailed to a cross by the people he created and we call it good! And to be sure, being nailed to a cross in itself tells us little. Thousands of people were crucified on crosses. It was a cruel favourite of the Romans, until even they decided is was too barbaric. How was it good? For anyone? Ever? I’m wondering if it might be something to do with looking back. Stay with me here. Queen Elizabeth I wasn’t Queen Elizabeth I until Queen Elizabeth II came along. World War I wasn’t World War I until World War II came along. We have this phrase we use: “with the benefit of hindsight…” I’m wondering if it’s in looking back we call it Good Friday. It wasn’t good on the day was it? I don’t think so. It wasn’t good for Jesus, crucified on a cross. It wasn’t good for the disciples. It wasn’t good for his family. It wasn’t good, was it? Remember shortly after the resurrection, when Jesus walked with two followers on their way to Emmaus? The story they told was one of sadness and disappointment. Jesus had died. That wasn’t supposed to happen. No, it wasn’t. And for those of you who are now worried about some dodgy theology (and you may well be right), I don’t think it was ever God’s plan either. Not his first choice. Not what he really wanted. It wasn’t good for him either. He had trusted his beloved son into the hands of the people he created, only to see them crucify him. Not good. It is Good Friday because as we look back, we see what the first disciples took a while to see, that it was Jesus’ death on the cross that God took and transformed into the means of saving grace. Not his first choice. But a demonstration of the grace and power of God himself. Sometimes in life, we have to look back to see what was good. We can’t see it at the time. I got turned down for ministry the first time I applied. It was devastating. But I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today if that had not happened. Hard though it is for me to say, it was a good thing. Sometimes we have to look back to be able to see what God is doing. We look back at the cross, and we can say: “it was good!” We can look back at Good Friday and call it good. And thank God we can!

Waiting...

I cycled past the church earlier this week as part my daily exercise schedule. I have to space out the runs to give my legs recovery time. I’m hoping that will improve, but we’ll see. Anyway, people were queuing outside the church. Yes they were. They don’t queue on Sundays, but they were queuing on Monday. They were waiting to give blood. (Just for the record, I don’t do needles, so could just cycle past!) I hate queues. Really I do. I have a theory that whatever queue I’m in will be the slowest. I’ve tested that theory and it’s true. If ever you see me in a queue, don’t join it. It will be the slowest. I’m really hoping there’s no queue for heaven! Got me thinking though. I might queue for something important, but only if I have to. I don’t like the waiting you see. I might wait for something really good. But I’m not good at waiting. Even waiting for the Sunday morning service to being is a challenge! But they were waiting, patiently, queuing down Crabtree to give blood that others might live. It’s a good thing to do. And all the more important at this time. Jesus waited. All week. He waited all week to give blood. He waited all week to give his blood that we might live. And not just live, but live in the fullness God intended for now, and for eternity. Jesus waited all week, all of the most challenging week of his life, the week we now call Holy Week, to give his blood that I might live. Here’s the thing though. There was no-one queuing to give blood with him for one simple reason. He was going to the cross. No-one wanted to go to the cross. Actually, neither did Jesus: “Take this cup from me,” he prayed. But then he added, “But not my will but yours.” And there’s the difference. He held on to his Father’s far bigger and better story. And he waited to go to the cross. Like those who receive blood from blood donors because they know it saved their life, I am inexpressibly grateful that Jesus took the road of waiting, and went to the cross. For me. And you. That we might me live. Really live.

Giving up?

Because I’m a flawed, fallen human being, I’ve been thinking about all the things I been giving up because of the virus. Not proud of that, but it’s true. And (further admissions to shock you), if I think about it for too long, if I’m tempted to dwell on my circumstances, I start to get a bit frustrated, angry even! There, said it! I might be the only one like that, but I’m guessing not. Perhaps you too have these kinds of thoughts sometimes. I can get stuck in a way of thinking that I’ve had to give swimming and the gym and seeing people and meeting at church and… And let’s be honest here for a moment, there are people who are having to give up far more than right now. In a more mature moment today, a thought struck me as we enter Holy Week. I’ve given up a few things in the hope that other’s lives might be better. That remind you of anything? One man gave up all the glory of heaven in the hope that he might make my life better. And yours. And…well everyone’s. Isn’t that the truth of Holy Week. Ok, in more theological language (am I allowed to say that in a blog?), Jesus gave up his life that I might live life in all the fullness God intended. Which makes my giving up pale a bit don’t you think? But if I can give up things to help others, maybe it gives me just a little insight into how God feels…about me!
And maybe about you. And my neighbours and friends. Maybe giving up is good for me in more ways than one! Not least because it reminds me of how grateful I am that Jesus chose to give up what he had, to rescue people like me.

Shine on us!

Two things came together today - at least they did in my world! I was feeling a bit unsure this morning: what should I be doing? How do I make the best use of my time? Who should I be helping? How do I best help in this uncertain time? Maybe you sometimes feel like that. Or maybe you don’t. I do, and I was this morning. I got on with lots of things, all good things: printing newsletters; printing the sermon script; planning services. I then decided to sing. I like to sing. And I found a song I love. The first line is: “Lord, let your light, light of your face, shine on us.” That struck me as being so, so relevant to today. We need, we desperately need the light of God’s face to shine upon us don’t we? The light that shines in the darkness. The light that leads and guides, that is a lamp to our feet. The light that never goes out. We desperately need the light of God’s face to shine upon us. Do you remember the Aaronic blessing? Yes you do: “May the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you…” (Numbers 6 v 24-25) It turns out that the meaning of “make his face to shine upon you” can be explained as the look on the face of the bridegroom turning his head to see his bride coming up the aisle. What a beautiful picture. So…I went for another run today! (Thought I’d run it faster but it turned out I was slower - so disappointed!) And on one stretch the sun was shining directly into my face, so much so that I couldn’t see ahead. The light of the sun was powerful: “Lord, let your light, the light of your face shine upon me.” The words of a song. The light of the sun. Two things. Together a powerful reminder of a deep, deep truth to carry in this difficult time: the light of the Lord shining on us as a bridegroom looking at his approaching bride in such a way that he comes to us in everything, wherever we are. May the light of God’s face shine upon us, here and now, however we are feeling and whatever we are facing. Powerful. And wonderfully true.

There is a time

Since my legs haven’t quite got back to normal from running (thanks for asking), I went out on the bike today. Somewhat miraculously I felt good as I set off and was thinking I might be fitter than I thought. I got into a nice rhythm. I was feeling good. There weren’t so many people out either (so they couldn’t slow me down). But I knew there was hard work ahead. Turns out it’s pretty much all uphill from Crawley to East Grinstead along the Worth Way! But I was ready! Sometimes life is like that: it all feels good and we feel in control and ready to take it on. But on a bike on the Worth Way there are times when it’s really hard: it’s called uphill. Or it’s called the wind! And it was when I got to East Grinstead and turned around that I worked it out. There wasn’t much wind at all, but what little there was now against me. That meant hard work. That meant effort. That meant I couldn’t go at the same pace. I was going well on the outward journey, but the homeward journey would be more challenging. It’s amazing how the slightest of breezes can make cycling so much harder. It got me thinking: when I’m on the bike I know some things will make it easier (downhill and a following wind, and some things will make it harder: uphill and a headwind). Then I thought: it’s pretty similar in life: some things make it harder and some things make it easier. Which got me thinking about seasons: there are seasons in life. Some are easy and we feel good. But some are hard, difficult and challenging. We (by that I mean everyone) are in a very challenging season right now. Perhaps the only part of Ecclesiastes we know has something to say about seasons. It’s Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 v 1 - 8. It starts: “There is a time for everything…” Scholars have tried to work out how the “poem” is organised, and have come to the conclusion that the way the statements are arranged randomly. That’s to make the point that life is like that: it often seems random - there is no rhyme or reason to the way things happen. That remind you of any time? A couple of verses later (v11) the writer says that God places eternity in the human heart. Even through the randomness of life, God is in our hearts! Which means that even in this very difficult and “random” season, God is in your heart. Now that’s worth thinking about!

Do it with all your heart!

Wonders will never cease! Here I am again. I didn’t get to writing yesterday because I simply didn’t get a minute to blog (I’m in danger of sounding like a real blogger!) But today I’m blogging. And I’m wondering: how are you doing? How are you doing with the changing rhythms of life as they are now? I have my moments it has to be said. Sometimes I’m ok, no really I am. But sometimes I feel frustrated and even angry that things are not as the should be. I can’t do the tings I normally do in the way I normally do them. And maybe that’s true for you too. Today though I did something I don’t normally do. I went for a run! I used to go running a bit when I was younger, but I haven’t been running for a few years now. I have a dodgy knee (footballing injury) and I have a theory that running won’t help it! But today I went for a run. Not because I really wanted to, but because I’m wired up needing exercise and if I don’t exercise, well…just ask Lisa what I’m like. It’s good for my health and my mental health and good for the people who live with me! I wouldn’t choose to go running now, but these are different times. And it struck me as I was running there was something I might learn from this experience. I could run and spend the whole time bemoaning the fact that I was running and I didn’t want to or that I’m not as quick as I once was. Or I could be thankful that I can still run, that I had time and opportunity. And then I thought that maybe I could set myself a target through this time and challenge myself: how much can I improve my times or distances through this difficult time? Which made me think. There’s a verse in Ecclesiastes (9v10) which I love: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” I can apply that to everything I do in this challenging time, whether that be for things I like doing or things I am struggling to do. I’m wondering then, in exile, if this is something I can take to heart. And maybe you too. And I’m wondering what difference it would make to me, to those around me and to those I am trying to help.

In The Crucible

Well, well, well! Here I am writing a blog. I did try this some years ago and I think I managed two posts. But different times require different responses. So, here’s a response from me to our current circumstances. It’s not a thing I’m comfortable with to be honest. That’s nothing against blogs at all, it’s a comment about me. I’m an outdoors sort of a person and I’d much rather be swimming, cycling, waking, playing golf or football than sitting in front of a laptop! But we are in unfamiliar territory as we live in these challenging times. And I can’t do the things I like to do in that way I like to do them. I can walk and cycle to get my daily exercise, but the rest…no can do! As we learnt this morning when we looked at some of Jeremiah chapter 29, we might describe this current time as an exile: a time when everything is different and we are not “at home.” And we also learnt God was as close to, and as interested in his people when they were in exile, as he ever was when they were in Jerusalem. God is with them in the present, whatever the present looks like. That is good news. really good news. It’s really good news for us today, right now in everything we are facing in this current exile. God encourages his people to live well in Babylon. He encourages us to live well today. He also assures his people that he is concerned about their future (Jeremiah 29v11). They are part of His far bigger and far better story. And so are we. That is great news. Really great news! Jeremiah 29 v 13 has a challenge for us that I think might be really relevant to our exile, just as it was to Israel in exile in Babylon: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” I wonder, in this time, how much do we seek God? It turns out that this period of exile was a really creative time in the history of Israel. They had to do things differently and they found ways to do that. They had no temple so had to worship together in new ways. That’s not so different from us at this particular time is it? We worshipped together in a different way this morning, and that was different from last week,. I’m wondering if there’s a link between their creativity and their willingness to pray. We can pray. And if we seek God honestly and with all our heart, we can be assured God will hear, for he wants nothing more than for us to pray. So, as this blog comes to an end (perhaps it would be more accurate to describe this point as the end of the beginning since I’m committing myself to do this often), I encourage all of us to pray during this time. In all the ways we can. Be creative and let’s look to God to help us. Because that’s what God does.