2024 40 days of lent: day 11 – Follow the instructions

Aware I have 2 day’s musings to write up, I am nonetheless pushing forward to write today’s musings. They are musings triggered by a sermon I heard yesterday. Well, part of it.

I was visiting friends and we went to their church, so the voice at the front was new to me. They started with an image and some thoughts around that before moving on to their main point and there was a lot of wisdom, but it was that initial picture that captured my imagination.

The picture was a medieval depiction of a passage from the book of Numbers. I can’t find the exact image online (if I do stumble upon it, I replace the one below) so I have gone for a similar one. The passage it is based on is during the time that Moses was leading the Israelites through the wilderness. They had escaped from Egypt but hadn’t yet reached the promised land. They had been grumbling because they were hungry and in general it seemed that morale was low. The bit that’s relevant comes in chapter 21. The camp is invaded by venomous snakes. The Israelites didn’t have a cure, so if they were bitten it was a death sentence. They called out to Moses who looked to God. God instructed him to make a bronze serpent and put it in the centre of camp where all could see it. When bitten, the Israelites had only to look at the bronze statue and they would be healed.

In the image we were shown, there was indeed a serpent on a pole in the middle. And Moses stood just to the left with a stick pointing to the serpent. But in the background on the right there was a man with a stick who appeared to be trying to beat the snakes – he was taking the role of  protector on himself and judging by the number of snakes, failing. In the same sort of area there was a figure who had been bitten and someone next to them embracing them, comforting them. They had taken the healer role, although it didn’t look like it was going much good. In the front right was another figure who had just been bitten, and they seemed to be looking to Moses, the visible person who had been leading and ‘providing’ for them – he was putting his trust in man, not God.

The thing is, the instructions given by God were simple: look at the bronze serpent. They didn’t need to waste energy trying to beat the snakes to death, they didn’t need to offer false comfort, they just needed to look at the snake.

It got me thinking, how often do I hear God’s instructions and say, ‘I hear you, but I think I should…’? How often do I disregard the simple reliance on God for my own skills, my own actions? How often do I look to people instead of God? How often do I complicate things instead of simply following instructions? What if I just trusted God’s plan?

It definitely got me thinking, and I wonder if it will prompt you to think about your choices too. God is a lot more capable than we are – maybe we should try trusting him.

2024 40 days of lent: belated day 7 – Mind the gap

I had an unusual week which just left me without time to write a blog post on a couple of days, although I did draft the idea. This one was a reminder in a book I had been reading called ‘God is closer than you think’ by John Ortberg, one of my favourite theological writers. In the first chapter he directs the reader to a painting.

It’s the painting in the Sistine Chapel called ‘The Creation of Adam’. It depicts God and Adam, although Adam has already been created. God is on a shell shape surrounded by heavenly beings and they appear to be flying or hovering. Adam is on the ground. But there is a huge difference in body language. God, the all powerful one who doesn’t need anyone else but desires relationship is shown leaning forward, reaching to Adam. Adam, the fallible human who does need God is shown lazily lounging and almost half heartedly reaching out to God whilst also leaning away.

There is a space between the fingers, God’s index finger reaching out to touch Adam, Adam’s fingers drooping at the end of an arm that is resting on his knee. Adam seems to be waiting for God to do all the work. And God can cover that distance. But…

How often as we live our lives is that us? God wants relationship. He desires it so much Jesus shared in our mess and suffering and died so that we could have that relationship. But God wants relationship, not mindless robots that do as their told. We have to choose relationship too. How often are we like Adam, leaning backwards and expecting God to go all the way? How often do we fail to make the effort to reach out to God, to put some effort into building that relationship? God has come this close to us, all we need to do is straighten the metaphorical finger – set aside time to pray, say sorry for the things we have done wrong, show kindness to a neighbour, whatever it might be in our context.

We just have to close the gap, God has already come near. Feeling alone? God is there. Feeling burdened? God is there. Feeling busy? God is there. Feeling hopeless, depressed, stuck, elated, content, surprised…? God. Is. Right. There.

All you have to do is reach out a finger.

2024 40 days of lent: day 8 – Car Crash

On my way to rehearsal this evening, someone drove into the back of me. Coming up to a roundabout, the car in front of me stopped to let a pedestrian cross, I had time to stop but the car behind me didn’t. The noise was the worst bit, but no one was hurt, the car in front drove off as they weren’t affected, and there was minimal damage to the cars.

When we got out and exchanged details, and the driver said that really it was the driver in front of me’s fault, the one who had stopped for the pedestrian, shame we didn’t catch their details.

What does this have to do with God? This seems to me to be a good allegory for how life can go. In this situation, I had done everything right – I was paying attention, I had left a good stopping distance, my lights were on – in fact, there was nothing more I could have done to prevent this.

In life, we can do everything right. We can be kind and respectful, we can be generous and charitable, we can be good citizens and human beings and still find ourselves in trouble. It’s not all to do with us. Other human beings can make a mistake or choose to act in a way that is not as generous or kind. In this situation, for whatever reason, the driver behind me didn’t stop in time. But what was worse for me was the way they didn’t take responsibility, but instead tried to pass that onto a third party. Again, a parallel with life maybe? The one in the wrong trying to pass the blame?

God gave humans the freedom to choose. Sometimes we choose to do the right thing, sometimes with the best of intentions we get it wrong, and sometimes we just make bad decisions. And so often, innocent people get hurt, either physically or through wrongful persecution.

God never promises this won’t happen. In fact, the psalms are full of the psalmist lamenting the fact that those doing evil seem to be rewarded while those who are good suffer. But what God promises is that he will be there with us, and that what is to come is better. He promises his own justice in eternity, and that is a merciful justice that we can trust – God sees more than us and loves harder than us and there is no one else I would want to judge me.

So when those metaphorical car crashes come your way that you couldn’t prevent, it’s not a punishment for something you have done ordained by God, but God is there with you, telling you to breath, making a strong cuppa, giving you a hug, and God will see justice done, his justice. You can trust him, he’s got your back.

2024 40 days of lent: day 6 – New every morning

The other morning I was up early. I’m not usually a morning person, but on this particular morning I was up and active early (and slightly tired). And I got the opportunity to see the sky change from dark to slightly grey and then a glorious sun rise. It was beautiful and breathtaking – clouds in various shades of pink above the houses and the sun crept over the horizon against a light blue sky.

Just over an hour later, the sky was dank and grey, and half an hour after that it was raining, but that moment of sunrise was picture perfect (except my pictures never quite do nature justice).

A book I don’t often quote, Lamentations, says: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

It got me thinking about how we don’t always see the sun, and sometimes it is grey and rainy, but the sun is always there. Each day is different and out of our control, but God is a constant – like the sunrise, God is always there. How amazing is that?!

It doesn’t matter whether we’ve messed it up or if things have been thrown our way, each day is a chance to start over and try again. God doesn’t hold our past against us so we should let it go too.

If you aren’t a morning person, I would recommend setting an earlier alarm to see the beauty (and soon because the sunrise gets earlier when the clocks change!) If you are regularly up early, pause and take in the sunrise, don’t take it for granted. And remember as you do that each day is a new opportunity to experience God.

2024 40 days of lent: day 5 – For God so loved the world…

John 3:16 is one of the most well known and frequently quoted bible verses (in my experience, I haven’t done a detailed study!) It says, ‘God so loved the world that he sent his only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.’

It is a good Bible verse, especially when praying for someone – it is good reminder that we are all loved. There are others. 1 John 3:1 ‘See what love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God’ is possibly my favourite.

The limitation of the John 3 verse is the condition that can sometimes be read into it – that we must believe before we are loved. 1 John 4, a few verses later than the one I just quoted states, ‘We love because he first loved us’. The love comes first. Before we have done anything, said anything, become anything, we are loved. After we have stumbled, made a mess, been scarred, we are loved. God’s love is bigger than anything else, it’s a theme that runs all the way through the bible. You are loved.

The other day I came across the picture at the end of this post and I had a lightbulb moment – we are all loved and we will never meet someone who isn’t. The best or the worst of us is a Child of God. Sometimes that may be hard to swallow, and sometimes that is a huge comfort. God’s love for us is unconditional – it’s about who he is, not what we’ve done. Take a moment to think about that and let that sink in – you will never meet someone that God doesn’t love.

2024 40 days of lent: day 4 – Time Out

My brain is a little fuzzed this evening. The way things have worked out recently, proper days off don’t come easily, I have to properly plan them in. I’m sure I’m not alone in that. It is so easy to be tempted into working, either for our paid job if we are fortunate enough to have one or for somewhere we volunteer our time. In fact, it is almost cultural to be busy all the time, and taking time out can feel looked down upon.

But Jesus took time out – he often retreated to spend time in prayer and his disciples had to go looking for him. And in the creation story, God set a day aside to rest and look over all he had done. Constantly doing stuff is not a biblical principle and also probably isn’t healthy.

Being busy is a good escape and distraction from things we don’t want to face. It is a good way to give ourselves a sense of worth and accomplishment, albeit temporary. But the thing is, we can’t keep it up forever. Sooner or later something will come up that is outside of our control – maybe we will end up ill, or the place we are being busy at will be closed for some reason – and we will find ourselves with time in our hands and those things we’ve been running from catch up, or our sense of worth has nothing to latch on to and we plummet emotionally.

The psalmist says time and again to rest, to ‘Be Still’, to ‘Wait for the Lord’. Maybe what some of us need this lent is to slow down, to take time out. Listen to your body, listen to your brain and listen to your heart. If anyone of them feels tired or ‘fuzzy’, maybe you need to take a Time Out and refresh yourself somehow, with a coffee, and good book, a walk – something that is definitely not work.

If Jesus could find time to take a Time Out, I think we should make time too.

2024 40 days of lent: day 3 – those who’ve gone before

Jesus lived 2000 years ago. (I know, technically Jesus lived from the beginning as still lives now, but his earthly life was 2000 years ago). In the time since his death, resurrection and ascension, there have been millions if not billions of people who followed him and his teaching, commonly called Christians.

In some Christian traditions, some of these Christians are especially important – they have lived a life that was virtuous and holy and pointed to God. They are grouped together as Saints. A large number of the Saints appear to have been martyred, although I haven’t studied them all.

For this tradition, the Saints can intercede on our behalf and therefore are prayed to in certain circumstances – for example when travelling, St Christopher may be prayed to as patron saint of travel. This is not a tradition I was brought up in or taught about, but I have friends that it is important to, so I asked about it. They had a couple of responses:

Intercessors

We often ask our friends and communities to pray with and for us. Praying to the saints is like that – asking other Christians to pray with and for us. This is a principle in the bible which Paul talks about when writing to give advice to other churches.

Prayers of the righteous

Following on from that, in James’s letter, he writes about the power of the prayers of the righteous. The saints in heaven definitely come under that category, so it makes sense to ask them to intercede.

Learning

This was my favourite response: they have lived such interesting lives and can teach us so much – we would be missing out on so much to ignore them. This is the reason for my bog post today. The Saints have led interesting lives, come up against all sorts of trials, have lived in the real world, made mistakes and still left a legacy that points to God. They come from all backgrounds, all nationalities, all ages – they are all so wonderfully different like us. Their stories are so rich and they have so much to teach about living in step with God.

Growing up in a church, I wasn’t always great at listening to the sermon, but from my seat I could see a stained glass window with St Martin, who saw a beggar by the roadside and cut his cloak in half to share with the man who had nothing. It’s still one of my favourite stories. St Francis and St Clare were rich nobles who gave everything up to follow Jesus. Contemporaries in the same area, they ministered differently. Francis travelled around to spread the gospel, Clare set up an abbey for girls to join her and dedicate their lives to God.

The Saints offer us a rich tapestry throughout history of people who lived their lives for God, who didn’t have it easy but chose to do it anyway. If they could walk through their trials and still lean on God, then so can I. I have a book of Saints through lent – one saint a day, just a snippet and what that may teach me – and I am looking forward to the lessons God will teach me through it.

Do you have a favourite saint? Maybe there are a couple whose stories can inspire you. If you are looking for a way to grow closer to God this lent, why not try looking at these Christians that history has remembered as good examples of followers of Jesus?

2024 40 days of lent: day 2 – Muted

It is said that if a person loses one sense, the others become sharper to make up for it. Someone who is blind will often be able to discern more through hearing and smell than someone who has all their senses. On a smaller scale, someone who is trying to concentrate on what they are seeing or reading might block their ears somehow, or someone who wants to concentrate on a taste or smell might close their eyes.

By ‘muting’ one sense, our other senses have the capacity to process more meaning they become more effective. A similar thing happens in a church in lent. Traditionally, the colours are more muted (although the purple often used today doesn’t always fall under the muted category…), flowers aren’t used to brighten the building, wordy ‘Gloria’s’ are replaced with simpler ‘Kyrie’s’ (Lord, have mercy) and ‘Alleluia’s’ used to decorate verbal worship are dropped until Easter. Without these elaborations, as wonderful and joyful as they are, the church enters a more sombre period with a sharper focus on relationship with God and what is getting in the way. It is often a time of prayer and fasting, of repentance, of turning around and returning to God.

By muting other area of our worship and other distractions within the building, we can more clearly focus on rebuilding an intimate relationship with God. Jesus has already made that possible through the events of Good Friday, we just need to empty our hands and grasp it.

Are there distractions around you that you need to mute temporarily? Are you holding things that are stopping you embracing the relationship God wants to have with you? What can you do to change that?

2024 40 days of lent: day 1 – Happy Galentine’s

Becoming a helpful tradition for me in lent, 40 days of drawing closer to God through writing. As ever, some will be long and some will be snapshots, but all will be God focused in some way.

This year, Ash Wednesday, the first day of lent, has fallen on Valentine’s Day. Me, my housemates and some friends (all single) used it as an opportunity to celebrate a different kind of love.

Sometimes there can be a pressure from well meaning people, be that families, churches or friends, to find the right person and settle down (however that may look). But that is a societal pressure rather than a God pressure. In fact, in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes that it is good for the unmarried to stay single like him, but if they can’t exercise self control then they can marry! That’s almost the opposite of what society tells us today!

I think there is room in the world for couples and singles, for both to be happy and accepted. God created people to live together in community and created different types of love to describe those relationships.

So if today, you and your significant other did something special, that’s wonderful, and I hope you both felt truly loved and made memories together. And if you don’t have that significant other, I hope you know how loved you are by the people around you.

And remember, God loves you more than you could possibly imagine and there’s nothing you can do to forfeit that. Is there something you can do over the next 46 days to draw closer to God and discover more about how he feels about you?

The gift of choice

It’s Easter Saturday. A day of stillness, and the beginning of the celebrations that Jesus is not dead. It is a time of joy. If you choose to believe…

Reflecting back on the Easter story, it strikes me how much choice plays a part. I don’t mean Jesus’ choice to endure the cross in order to save mankind, that still boggles the mind. I mean the choice to turn to Jesus or not.

Peter and Judas, both betray Jesus. Judas leads the soldiers to him, Peter denies knowing him and abandons him. Peter chooses to run towards Jesus, searching for mercy. Judas chooses to run away from Jesus, searching for an escape.

Two criminals are crucified along with Jesus, one on his right and one on his left. Both are rightly fully convicted of a crime. One chooses to mock Jesus, speaking perhaps out of fear of dying, or maybe anger at the circumstances. He mocks Jesus, challenging to save them all. The other points out that they deserve their fate, Jesus doesn’t. Then he asks Jesus to remember him. He chooses to accept instead of challenge.

All four of these men made bad choices. But two of them also made good choices – they chose Jesus. The other two… well, they didn’t choose Jesus.

We also have a choice. When we make a bad decision, we can let it consume us or try to run away from it. Or we can chooses Jesus, turn to him for mercy and grace. He won’t force us. He let’s us choose to run. But he will be waiting with open arms if we choose to return. Just look at the story of the prodigal son.

So whatever bad decisions you have made or will make, one good decision can wipe them out. Peter and the repentant criminal found that out. Follow their example. Choose Jesus.