Thought for the Week 2021 – Lent 6

Matthew 26: 36 - 46

³⁶ Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ ³⁷ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸ Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’

³⁹ Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’

⁴⁰ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?’ he asked Peter. ⁴¹ ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’

⁴² He went away a second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.’

⁴³ When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴ So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

⁴⁵ Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!’

 

Lent 6 – Gethsemane, Suffering, Pressure and Pain

Many of us have special places that we go to when we need to think, to pray and to meet with God. Perhaps, for you, it is a place you haven’t told anyone else about, because it is so special. Jesus often went up into the mountains, very early in the morning, before sunrise, in order to pray. Being alone with his Father was vitally important if he was to continue in his mission.

On the night of his arrest, the place he went was the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. It was a place where olives grew, and where olives were pressed to extract the oil from them. Jesus went there with his three closest friends, Peter, James and John, and he went there to meet his Father, to pray and to plead with him.

This is the sixth week of Lent, and we are continuing to examine ourselves in the light of the life, death and resurrection of our Saviour. And in this story we find Jesus facing up to his imminent death – and facing all the emotions that came with it.

In verse 38, Jesus said, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.’ That’s an amazing statement, isn’t it? Have you ever felt so full of sorrow that you might use those words to describe it? It is not just the mind or the emotions that are sorrowful; it is the very soul. And the sorrow not only fills him, but is overwhelming. How far? To the point of death. In this story we see Jesus the Man, and Jesus who is God.

It is an important statement of the Christian faith that Jesus is ‘fully man and fully God’. He is not a ‘demi-god’, like in Greek mythology – half man and half god. No, Jesus was and is fully man and fully God. How can that be? How can we describe it, explain it or understand it? We cannot – but we can believe it. And in Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane we see it fully played out before our eyes.

Jesus came with a mission. It was a mission to save humanity from their own rebellion. He came to save us from sin and death. Mankind has chosen the way of sin and selfishness and has chosen to ignore the way of God. We closed the way to God through our own actions. Jesus came to re-open that way. And he did it by dying on the cross for every one of us. In our reading this week, Jesus knows what his mission is and he knows the pain and agony that he will go through. Jesus the Man tells his friends, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.’ Jesus the Man cries out to his father – ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.’ He is talking about the cup of suffering that he is about to face. Could there be another way to save mankind? If there is, please my I be spared this suffering? And Jesus, who is God, adds, ‘Yet not as I will, but as you will.’

Only Jesus, the perfect Son of God; God the Son; the second person of the Trinity; fully God and fully man, could take away the sin of the world through his death on the cross. He knew it, and as God he came to do it, and went through with it. But it didn’t stop him, as Jesus the Man, dreading it, being filled with stress and under great pressure as he looked ahead to what was coming, and pleading with his Father to be spared.

Gethsemane – the place of pressure where olives are squeezed in a press for their oil. And the place of pressure where Jesus the Man is pressed down and his soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. When you and I face the pressure of sorrow, stress and anxiety, and we plead with God to be spared, God often does not answer that prayer in the way we would hope. He doesn’t airlift us out of the situation – rather he parachutes in to join us. May we have the courage to say. ‘Yet not as I will, but as you will.’

 

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I know that you know more than any of us what suffering and sacrifice are like. I thank you that you were willing to go through that for me and for all mankind. When I face suffering, sorrow and great pressure, please come alongside me and give me the strength to go through it. Amen.

Thought for the Week 2021 – Lent 5

Isaiah 40: 1 - 8

¹ Comfort, comfort my people,
    says your God.
² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
    that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
    double for all her sins.

³ A voice of one calling:
‘In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.
⁵ And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
    and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’

⁶ A voice says, ‘Cry out.’
    And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’

‘All people are like grass,
    and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
⁷ The grass withers and the flowers fall,
    because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
    Surely the people are grass.
⁸ The grass withers and the flowers fall,
    but the word of our God endures for ever.’

 

Lent 5 – Prepare the Way for the Lord

This is the fifth week of Lent, and we are continuing to examine ourselves in the light of the life, death and resurrection of our Saviour. This week we are looking at the opening verses of Isaiah 40, a well-known portion of Scripture, which includes a verse quoted in the New Testament as a prophecy about John the Baptist.

This part of the Book of Isaiah looks ahead to the exile of the Jews to Babylon, as well as the return from exile seventy years later. And it begins in verses 1 and 2 with reassurance for the future: ‘Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.’ This reminds us that the Holy Spirit is called the comforter, as one of many translations of the Greek word paraklete. It appears, for instance, in John 14: 26, in the King James Version. Other translations use the word ‘helper’ or ‘advocate’. But there is something wonderfully reassuring about being told that the Holy Spirit is the comforter. The Holy Spirit comes alongside us when life is difficult, and he brings comfort instead of despair; peace instead of anxiety. Over the last twelve months we have needed the comfort of the Holy Spirit more than ever – the one who brings peace and hope to our hearts in troubled times.

In these opening words of Isaiah 40 we are reading of the comfort that the Holy Spirit will bring to the people of Jerusalem. They will face harsh exile, but at the end of it they will return to the Promised Land. ‘Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,’ it says. When a child is sad or hurt and a parent comes alongside, he or she brings comfort, and speaks tenderly to the child. This is what God does for his people – he is the comforter and speaks tenderly.

As I said, verse 3 is quoted in the New Testament by John the Baptist as a prophecy about himself. Today we are in a different situation to that of John the Baptist. However, we have a job to do and a role to play in doing the same thing – preparing the way for the Lord. It is for us to make a straight highway for God. In other words, you and I (and the whole church) are called to go into all the world and make disciples. We have met Jesus – so now we need to introduce him to other people. In Romans 10: 14 Paul writes, ‘How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?’ If we are going to go into the world and speak of Jesus, introducing him to people, we are, in effect, ‘preparing the way for the Lord.’

And in the following verse in Romans, Paul continues, ‘And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’ Do you have beautiful feet? Well, whatever the state of your toenails or bunions, you have beautiful feet if you are bringing the good news of Jesus! If you are going into the world to make disciples, preparing the way for the Lord, straight in the desert a highway for our God, then you have the most beautiful feet!

Wherever we go and whatever we do, and whoever we talk to, we have a role to play in God’s Kingdom. We are the ones with beautiful feet, bringing Good News, as we introduce people to Jesus. We are preparing the way of the Lord, and making the path straight for people to meet him.  What can you do this week? Who will you meet, and what will you do to tell those people that there is Good News?

 

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I thank you for your faithfulness, your love, and for coming to this world to live for us, die for us and rise again. Thank you for the Comforter, the Holy Spirit – please may he strengthen and help me as I set about preparing the way for the Lord, making straight in the desert a highway for our God: every single day! Amen.

Thought for the Week 2021 – Lent 4

Luke 15: 11 - 32

¹¹ Jesus continued: ‘There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” So he divided his property between them.

¹³ ‘Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ ‘When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.” ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father.

‘But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms round him and kissed him.

²¹ ‘The son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”

²² ‘But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” So they began to celebrate.

²⁵ ‘Meanwhile, the elder son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷ “Your brother has come,” he replied, “and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.”

²⁸ ‘The elder brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!”

³¹ ‘“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”’

 

Lent 4 – Examine Your Heart

This Lent period, we are examining ourselves in the light of the life, death and resurrection of our Saviour. This week we are using a well-known parable that Jesus told, in order to help us examine ourselves before God.

Who am I most like in this story? And who are you most like? In order to help us answer that question, we need to look at who the people in the story represent. It is clear that the father in the story represents our Father God. He is the one who is the source of all that we have, and who has the power to administer justice or show mercy. The father in the story can exercise his legal right to turn his sons out onto the street, or he can show mercy and love and welcome them in as part of the family.

The younger son represents a person who has chosen to reject God – blatantly living a selfish life. But when he realises how bad that life is, he comes back to his father repenting, and ready to accept the very smallest amount of acceptance. The older son in the story represents someone who has worked hard for God all his life. He has never run away in a blatantly selfish way, but it is clear in the story that although he does not reject God in an obvious, outward way, his heart harbours selfishness and bitterness. And when the time comes for him to follow his father’s example, and show forgiveness to one who has turned back, he can’t find that forgiveness or mercy in his heart. All he can find is resentment.

So I ask the question again – which character(s) in the story are you and I most like? Maybe we would want to say we are like the younger son, who has come to God in true repentance, and has received great mercy and forgiveness. Yes, that is true – but were we rebellious like him before we came to God? Quite probably not. Are we like the father himself – standing at the gate, searching for those who would return to God, running to greet them and to show them love, mercy, forgiveness and a welcome? Well, we would like to be like that, but in practice we are often not like that. So are we like the older son? Working hard all our lives, following the rules, and resenting those who live a very different life and yet still receive mercy?

In practice, there are elements of all three characters that we find and recognise in our own lives. May it be that our lives reflect the best elements of each of the characters in this story.

 

Prayer

Lord, I thank you that you show unending mercy and forgiveness to all who come to you in repentance. Thank you that you run to meet us when we turn to you! May I truly repent of my sins and come to you in honesty. Please search my heart and deal with any bitterness, pride, arrogance and resentment that you find there. Help me to be honest in turning to you in humility. Amen.

Thought for the Week 2021 – Lent 3

1 Samuel 3: 1 - 14

¹ The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.

² One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. ³ The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. ⁴ Then the Lord called Samuel.

Samuel answered, ‘Here I am.’ ⁵ And he ran to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’

But Eli said, ‘I did not call; go back and lie down.’ So he went and lay down.

⁶ Again the Lord called, ‘Samuel!’ And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’

‘My son,’ Eli said, ‘I did not call; go back and lie down.’

⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

⁸ A third time the Lord called, ‘Samuel!’ And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’

Then Eli realised that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ So Eli told Samuel, ‘Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”’ So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’

Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’

¹¹ And the Lord said to Samuel: ‘See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. ¹² At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family – from beginning to end. ¹³ For I told him that I would judge his family for ever because of the sin he knew about; his sons uttered blasphemies against God, and he failed to restrain them. ¹⁴ Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, “The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.”’

Lent 3 – God Speaks, God Calls, God is With Us

This story of the boy, Samuel, who hears the voice of God one night, is a very well-known story that we use to illustrate the fact that God talks to his people, and we need to be listening. Those of you who went to Sunday School as a child no doubt first heard this story way back then. But I wonder whether your Sunday School teacher included verses 11 to 14 – what God’s message actually was. So often, when we look at this story, we stop at the end of verse 10: ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’ Ironically, when teaching about the fact that we should listen to God, we often fail to include the (quite serious and severe) message that God actually gives to Samuel!

This Lent period, we are examining ourselves in the light of the life, death and resurrection of our Saviour. When Jesus was born, he fulfilled the prophecy of the birth of Immanuel – God With Us. And today, God is still With Us when we trust in him and follow him, and he speaks to us and calls us. And sometimes, the message he has for us, like the message that he gave to young Samuel, is not a simple or even pleasant message. God speaks to us, and at times he has something difficult for us to do. In verse 15 of 1 Sam. 3, it says that the following morning Samuel was afraid to tell Eli what the vision was – not surprisingly!

Where was Samuel sleeping? Where was his bedroom? Verse 3: “Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was.” Probably not in the Most Holy Place, with his bed right alongside the Ark, but definitely nearby. Remember, this was before the temple was built, so the ‘House of the Lord’ was the tabernacle. It was basically a tent. And one compartment of the tent was the Most Holy Place, where the ark of the Lord, was, and where God was believed to dwell. Samuel was sleeping as close to the presence of God as was possible. When you go to sleep, do you rest in the presence of God? Do you go to sleep at peace knowing he is right with you? And are you prepared to hear his voice and his call?

God speaks, God calls, and God is With Us. Are we listening, and are we aware of how close we are to him? Do we seek to get as close as possible? How can we get closer to God and be more aware of what he is saying? The principle way that God speaks to us is through his Word. He has given us the Bible, and it is called the Word of God. Regular reading of the Bible is the main way God speaks to us – and it can help to read it with other people, in church, with daily study guides, with commentaries and so on. Persevere with your Bible reading if you want to have open ears to what God is saying, and you want to get closer to him! Every morning, pray like Samuel: ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ Be prepared to hear God’s call on your life each day. Remember Ephesians 2: 10 – “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” How will we know what God is calling us to do each day, unless we listen?

 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I thank you that you have never just left me to ‘get on with’ living the Christian life in my own strength. I thank you that you speak, you call and you are with me. May the Holy Spirit today fill me and help me to open my ears to your Word and your Call. May I always trust that you are with me at all times. Amen.