Remembrance Sunday

Luke 20:27-38

A question about the resurrection.

When I was looking deeper into this reading from Luke, I noticed that one of the commentaries entitles it “The Sadducees ask Jesus a ridiculous question”.

The Sadducees were like an ancient version of modern liberal theologians. They only accepted the first five books of Moses as authentic; disregarding what was written in them whenever they chose to do so. They did not believe in the resurrection, spirits or angels. They liked worldly things and cooperated with the Romans in order to keep their privileges.

There is a saying that there are no stupid questions only stupid answers but, in this case, it is the other way around. The Sadducees ask a ridiculous, hypothetical question based on Deuteronomy 25:5-10 in the hope of tricking Jesus into justifying their views. It is even feasible that the story they told was one of their stock in trade, told regularly purely in an attempt to cast ridicule on the resurrection of the dead.

Jesus’s reply, however, was a reminder that life in the resurrection is quite different to this worldly life with practices that are different to earthly life practices.

Revelation tells us that the glory of heaven will be a relationship and connection with God that surpasses anything else.

The question was not actually asked, however, to debate about those in heaven who had been married more than once; although Jesus tells us here that jealousy and exclusion have no place in heaven.

It was asked in order to attempt to refute the resurrection.

Jesus’s reply: “Nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels, are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.”

Jesus reminds us that life in heaven is eternal and shares some of the characteristics of the existence angels experience; although by being called children of God and children of the resurrection is a greater honour than that of the angels – these titles not having been given to angelic beings.

Jesus confirmed (and goes on to prove in the passage) that the resurrection is real and that there is no death in that life to come. And of course, this was a double blow for the Sadducees having had Jesus also confirm the existence of angels.

This teaching of Jesus , confirming the resurrection, is particularly poignant on Remembrance Sunday, when our thoughts turn to those who gave their lives, the mystery of death and what happens next.

We remember those who, throughout the centuries, received the news of their loved one’s death or that they were Missing In Action.

We remember those, who, today, yesterday, and in years long past made the ultimate sacrifice; and those who, sadly, will be making that sacrifice tomorrow.

They gave, and give, their lives for our tomorrows, for peace, freedom, justice and stability.

The scale and horror of the First World War was such that, at the time, it seemed impossible and unthinkable that such atrocity could be repeated – giving it the name “the war to end all wars”.

Sadly, reality turned out very different. Many millions more lives have since been, and continue to be, lost in all the many conflicts that have continued since around the world.

Most of us, most people, at least most of the time, want to live in peace.

So, what is it that is within humanity that creates this, appearingly, insatiable, appetite for conflict and war. Both for actual conflict and war and that which is created for, rather shamefully named I think, “entertainment purposes” such as video games.

Deep down beneath all the surface reasons or, dare I say, excuses, for conflict is that much used and much misunderstood word sin. The difference between the people we are and the people God made us to be. And what did God make us to be? He created us in His image. In the image and likeness of a loving God for the express purpose of being a loving people that love one another.

As Jesus said in John 15: “This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you” and “I am giving you these commandments so that you may love one another.”

There are far too many shocking stories, accounts and images of the atrocities of war – including those that continued to be committed after peace treaties were signed. We are supposed to learn from our mistakes and yet these still continue to take place.

But, there are also the poignant images of the Allied and German cemeteries filled with crosses.

Picture those rows of white crosses, be immersed in the silence.

Rows and rows of white crosses.

Take the command to love one another seriously.

Row upon row.

Understand that Christ went to the cross to overcome our separation from God and from each other.

Rows and rows and rows of white crosses.

If only this commandment was followed and the sacrifice understood all around the world then maybe, just maybe, the glimmer of hope given by the light of Christ will stay lit, not all will be lost and we would actually be able to allow Remembrance Day to fulfil it’s dream and truly mark the end of war!

War cemetery, rows of white crosses. (Photo by Pascal Ingelrest on Pexels.com)

Riches and Heaven

A Sandwich for Supper

A story tells of a man who went to the office every day in his expensive car, and made important decisions and signed big contracts. Often, the important man would enjoy business lunches with his clients, and would try to distract the attention of his influential guests away from the unsavoury spectacle of the beggars on the streets of his city. One evening, after a hard day making money, he packed his briefcase to go home, where supper would be waiting for him. As he was locking his desk for the night, he caught sight of a stale sandwich lying abandoned at the back of the drawer. Without much thought he crammed it in his coat pocket. No need for it to go mouldy and mess up his desk. And on the way out to the car park he saw a street beggar on the steps, huddled in an old blanket. ‘Here my friend,’ he said to the beggar. ‘Here is something for your supper.’ And he gave him the stale sandwich. That night, the man dreamed that he was away on a business trip. After the day’s meeting, he was taken with his fellow directors to the town’s most luxurious restaurant. Everyone gave their orders and settled down with their aperitifs to look forward to a convivial evening. The orders arrived. Pate de foie gras. Medallions of venison. Lamb cutlets with rosemary and garlic. The dishes being brought to the table brought gasps of delight from all the company. Then his own order appeared. A waitress set in front of him one small plate, on which was served a stale sandwich. ‘What kind of service is this?’ the man demanded, enraged. ‘This isn’t what I ordered! I thought this was the best restaurant in town!’ ‘Oh sir,’ the waitress told him, ‘you’ve been misinformed. This isn’t a restaurant at all. This is heaven. We are only able to serve you what you sent on ahead while you were alive. I’m very sorry, sir, but when we looked under your name, the best we could find to serve to you was this little sandwich.’
Retelling of a Jewish folk story, Margaret Silf

Luke (chapter 16 verses 19 to end) tells us about the rich man and Lazarus. It is a stern teaching and word of warning from Jesus; although it is often misinterpreted.

We have a rich man living in luxury and a poor homeless man living right under the nose of the rich man, by his gate where the rich man could not miss him.

These are opposite extremes. The poor man has nothing, wears rags, is covered in sores and lives on the street. The rich man has fine clothes in colours that show off his wealth to the world, a luxurious home and an abundance of food.

The rich man had so much more than he needed, yet, despite seeing the poor man every day he completely ignored him and did nothing.

The poor man was so neglected that those passing did not even chase the dogs away from him.

Jesus has talked in other passages about how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.

However, that is not because of the wealth itself but because of man’s love of wealth and the ignoring of those suffering and in need.

It is the state of our hearts and not the state of our wallets that interests Jesus.

The wealth and luxury the rich man enjoyed was not, in itself, what condemned him.

What condemned the rich man was that he totally ignored the poor man, despite him being right in his path.

We all have opportunities to help others laid in our paths. If we neglect these opportunities we are as guilty as the rich man. As Jesus said, “The poor will always be with us”.

The selfish use of worldly possessions is equally sinful. To do nothing when there are people like the poor man at our gates is equally wicked no matter how much wealth or how many possessions we have.

Spiritual things are also being represented in the different states of good and bad, in this world and the next.

The rich man’s sin was in providing only for himself. The poor man is in the depth of adversity and distress.

We are not told that the rich man caused any harm to the poor man but the rich man did not care for the poor man.

There is a time coming when those who hate and despise the people of God would gladly receive kindness from them. But the damned in hell will not have their torment eased.

Nothing can bring about true repentance without the special grace of God renewing the sinner’s heart.

Jesus is using this teaching to consolidate the dangers of the love of money, the deceitful, treacherous nature of riches; that those not using their property in the right way may not enter heaven, that they ought to heed the warnings from the prophets and their duty to care for and show kindness to the poor.

Both the rich and the poor man die. Jesus does not reveal what the after lands are really like. Instead He uses the preconceived ideas of those He is teaching; The point was to emphasise the total reversal of position of the rich man and the poor man.

The rich man, who lived in luxury whilst alive, now lives in torment and suffering. The poor man, who lived in suffering and torment whilst alive, is now the possessor of abundance and delight.

The rich man now wants from the poor man the help which he refused to give the poor man in life. Each must, however, reap in death what he has sown in life.

How we live our lives here determines life hereafter, the character we make out of ourselves, once set and hardened in this life, cannot be remoulded in the next.

The rich man’s request for his brethren serves only to try and excuse himself by claiming ignorance, and that had he known he would have been different. He tries to put the blame on insufficient warnings instead of owning it himself.

However, the teachings of Moses and the prophets are sufficient, holding a divine message for those who wish to listen.

It is not a lack of warnings but the aversion of will.

The rich man is in torment, not because he did not know his actions were wrong, but because he did not choose to do what he knew to be right.

Let us ponder the story of The Long-Handled Spoons:

A rabbi asked God to give him a glimpse of what heaven and hell would be like. God agreed to this request, and asked the prophet Elijah to be the rabbi’s guide on this adventure. Elijah first led the rabbi into a large room. In the middle of the room was a fire with a big cooking pot bubbling away on it. And in the pot was a delicious stew. All around the cooking pot sat a crowd of people. They each had a long-handled spoon, which they were dipping into the delicious stew. But the people looked pale and thin and wretched. There was an icy stillness in the room. The handles of the spoons were so long that no one was able to get the lovely food into their mouth. When the two visitors were back outide again, the rabbi asked Elijah what strange place this was. ‘That was hell,’ Elijah explained. Then Elijah led the rabbi to a second room, which looked exactly like the first. In the middle, a fire was blazing and a cooking pot was bubbling away, full of the same delicious, aromatic stew. People sat around the fire, with the same long-handled spoons in their hands But they were enjoying lively, animated conversations with each other. And the difference? Well, the people in the second room were not trying to feed themselves with the long-handled spoons. They were using the spoons to feed each other. ‘Ah, heaven,’ said the rabbi.
retold by Margaret Silf from an unknown source.

Discipleship Is Costly

Luke 14:25-33

Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem because the time of His death is approaching. He was accompanied by His disciples, whom He was teaching and preparing, but time was short. Hence, Jesus’s radical call. It was absolutely necessary for them to leave everything behind and be prepared for their own death if they are serious about following Him and about going with Him to Jerusalem.

There were also large crowds accompanying Jesus as He journeyed towards Jerusalem.

Jesus was also teaching these crowds.

Those who were already following Jesus needed to be taught the nature of true discipleship. They needed to be fully aware of what following Him costs.

Following Jesus demands full and total devotion to God.

Jesus was so fully devoted to His mission that it meant abandoning and being rejected by His home town and His family. For those who must leave their family behind to be able to fully follow Jesus it could be perceived as hating one’s family in the eyes of some.

Jesus tells us that to be His disciple means carrying our cross and following Him.

He is giving His disciples advance warning.

The road they were following Jesus down is expected to end in death, and they must prepare themselves.

Full devotion is described by and measured by what future is being committed to.

As usual, Jesus gave examples in order to help His disciples and the crowd understand the importance of fully evaluating the cost of following Him.

It was not a decision to be made lightly. Each person in the crowd and each disciple needed to consider whether they could follow Him to the very end, leaving everything else behind.

“None of you can be my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”

Jesus is entirely serious in saying that those following Him to Jerusalem must not be encumbered in any way.

But, if we look at other contexts and situations, does Jesus require every one, every disciple, every where and in every time to abandon family and possessions and run headlong towards death for Him?

If we look at the rest of the New Testament we can discern that the answer to this question is no.

The rest of the New Testament portrays faithful disciples maintaining family relationships and retaining possessions.

There are the apostles who travelled with their wives as they travelled far and wide on missionary work. The members of the church who had homes and possessions, with which they supported the church and the work of Peter, Paul and the other apostles.

It is important, however, to reiterate that these converts held their possessions loosely and were willing to give them up for the good of others and to support the Gospel mission.

It is also important to realise and accept that the requirements Jesus placed upon those wanting to follow Him on the road to Jerusalem will be required to be fulfilled should the circumstances dictate.

All followers of Jesus must remind themselves constantly that following Him faithfully could require the full sacrifice of family, possessions and even life itself. Those Christians who do not encounter or experience that extreme sacrifice must ensure that their family, possessions and life do not become so dear to us that they draw us away from full devotion.

Discipleship IS costly.

It demands continuous giving – giving time, giving energy, giving attention, taking initiative, making sacrifices, facing opposition, losing privacy, embracing obscurity, even shedding tears.

The making of disciples is not just sharing the Gospel, but sharing our own selves, gladly, for the souls of others. It means giving, giving, giving, giving and even more giving.

It is more blessed to give than to receive. So it also is with the hearts of disciples. It makes me happier for you to have my time, energy, attention. initiative, than it does for me to keep them to myself.

The crowd who were with Jesus on the road were interested enough to be following Him. However, they hadn’t fully grasped the implications and cost of discipleship. The same is true for many today. Throughout the world, both in churches and out, are crowds of people interested in Jesus but who do not really grasp the full implications, cost and commitment of discipleship for themselves.

And it is to such as these that Jesus is speaking to here. Those people who are willing to follow Jesus and learn from Him but only as long as the cost to them is not too high. Casual followers, followers who are here today but gone tomorrow.

Jesus points out that this is a total misunderstanding of what it means to be a Christian and He strongly addresses this misunderstanding.

We are to put Jesus first, to put our love for God above everything else in our lives.

The Christian life demands strength to love.

The Christian life demands that we carry a cross.

The Christian life demands that we give up everything for God.

There is only one person who has ever managed to do this perfectly and, of course, that is Jesus Christ Himself. He is our model – our example. We are to imitate Him, or in the words of Thomas A Kempis we are to develop “The Imitation of Christ”.

Growth in discipleship is ultimately growth in becoming more Christlike in our thoughts and actions.

And that involves sacrifice and hard work.

Are we ready to count the cost and become the disciples Jesus wants us to be.

It’s a choice we must make.

Not only that but we must keep making that choice

every

single

day!

Pride and Humility

In Luke, chapter 14, verses 7 to 14, Jesus is teaching us about pride and humility.

Jesus was at the house of one of the pharisees to eat a meal. Jesus often had disputes with the pharisees but He still spent time with them; not as a pharisee Himself but being God’s Son on earth He was showing them God’s example and love. And whilst at this meal Jesus watched.

He watched and saw how the others at this meal behaved and how they strategically placed themselves to get the best seats in the house; that is the places which would grant them the most honour or, if you like, jostling for the Top Table.

In Jesus’s day, seating arrangements were very important in society as the most honoured person sat in a particular seat, then the next most honoured, then the next and so on. A wedding banquet was the most important occasion and where you got seated at such a party was indicative of your standing in the community. This made it the perfect example for Jesus to use to teach His lesson.

And, of course, if you were to take the most honoured place and the host wanted someone else to sit there you would be asked to move – which would be embarrassing and would make you feel great shame.

Not everyone has the same exact customs to denote social standing and highlight how important or honoured someone is. But, there are many occasions in modern life where one’s own sense of self importance, pride and high opinion of one’s self can be displayed.

Pride comes before a fall. Shame comes after self exaltation.

Instead of playing the self promotion game, work hard for the Lord and let God raise us up.

When sitting in that lower place we are not there to make ourselves noticed in order to try and get ourselves placed higher. Nor are we there to pout and show dissatisfaction with the aim to let others know we don’t belong there. On the contrary, there is something wonderful and joyful about being content in whatever place God allows us to have.

Joyfully embrace the lower place. If the Master moves us to a higher place think how much more satisfying it is to know that God has raised you up than if you raised yourself up.

When we seek to honour ourselves we will always be humbled.

Jesus was the perfect One to teach this lesson, because He fulfilled it perfectly. He (God’s Son incarnated as flesh) deserved the highest place but He took the lowest and was ‘granted’ the highest.

Jesus had also noticed that the pharisee had chosen guests from a sense of pride, lacking in love for others and only inviting those who could give something in return. So Jesus went on to warn the host about the danger of pride when choosing guests.

Jesus is not saying that we can never invite certain friends/relatives/associates. What He is saying is not to make a habit of only inviting the same clique of people all the time.

He is telling the pharisee, and us, not to only associate with people for what they can do for us. He is telling us not to put self at the centre of our lives. We are called to follow Jesus and His example was that of putting others in the centre of our living.

It is better to give than to receive.

It is a wonderful feeling to give a gift that can never be repaid. Such a feeling helps give us a small insight into the pleasure of God in giving the gift of His grace, mercy, salvation and blessing to His people.

We never lose out when we follow the pattern of God’s generosity. Jesus shows us that we need to live with an eternal perspective of life as He promises God provides us with full repayment at the resurrection of the righteous; when our lives are weighed up on the balance sheet and audited by He who knows our hearts and minds, our actions and our motivations.

So, in summary:

Practise and prioritise humility over pride in everything.

Our works should be for the glory of God not for the praise of others.

We should embrace a lifestyle of radical hospitality, welcoming all.

And we need to understand that God’s kingdom operates with a different set of values to the world’s values. It operates with God’s values.

Rest

This miracle in the passage from Luke chapter 13, verses 10-17, is quite understated when compared to some of the other miracle accounts. We are told that the woman suffered for 18 years, Jesus lay hands on her, pronounced her free from her ailment and she was set free.

The synagogue leader then points out what many of the Rabbis and Jews may have been thinking – that healing was work and so should have been done on one of the 6 days of labour and not on the Sabbath.

Jesus’s response was that of the lesser to the greater. He points out that any of those gathered there would still take care of an animal if it needed help on the Sabbath so how much more should they respond to a human being in need.

But the conversation is actually deeper than this.

In the original Greek the synagogue leader’s words use the word ‘dei’ to make his claim about the ought of work but it also describes what is necessary for Jesus to do as God’s Son and representative; which is why Jesus’s response picks up on the synagogue leader’s claim. It is not about a divine necessity to work on the other 6 days but on the divine necessity to free the woman from what binds her on the Sabbath. And, of course, for added emphasis Jesus calls her what she is – a daughter of Abraham – magnifying the need to heal, liberate and unbind.

And the people praise God. They recognise Jesus as the one who brings in healing power to those who need it most.

Jesus is God’s repairman for the world.

God made the world and He made it good. He also made it holy. When Jesus acts in His Father’s name it is right and natural that people give Him glory. God in Jesus entered the world so it and everything in it could rest, be saved, be restored and perfected.

Returning to ourselves, do we stand in need of a special Sabbath rest day?

A setting aside that day of rest is something we have lost sight of. We work all hours, shop all hours – assisted by worldly pressures, stores staying open and online shopping. There is the expectation that phone lines will be open 24/7. Society seems to forget the welfare and wellbeing of both the workers and themselves.

The reasons God gave us the Sabbath are overlooked and forgotten.

Nothing must get in the way of instant gratification, of getting what we want instantly, of consumerism.

The pressure this puts on us all leaves us crooked and burdened like the woman in the passage. We need Jesus to repair and heal us just like she did.

We need to put Sabbath time aside to rest from the worldly pressures and to spend time with God.

Resting and Relaxing, sitting on a bench with a peaceful view

The Spirit Of God

The union between the Father and the Son is such a live concrete thing that this union itself is also a Person. I know this is almost inconceivable, but look at it thus. You know that among human beings, when they get together in a family, or a club, or trade union, people talk about the ‘spirit’ of that family, or club, or trade union. They talk about its ‘spirit’ because the individual members, when they are together, do really develop particular ways of talking and behaving which they would not have if they were apart. It is as if a sort of communal personality came into existence. Of course, it is not a real person: it is only rather like a person. But that is just one of the differences between God and us. What grows out of the joint life of the Father and the Son is a real Person, is in fact the Third of the three Persons who are God.

This third Person is called, in technical language, the Holy Ghost or the ‘Spirit’ of God. Do not be worried or surprised if you find it (or Him) rather vaguer or more shadowy in your mind than the other two. I think there is a reason why that must be so. In the Christian life you are not usually looking at Him. He is always acting through you. If you think of the Father as something ‘out there’, in front of you, and of the Son as someone standing by your side, helping you to pray, trying to turn you into another son, then you have to think of the third Person as something inside you, or behind you. Perhaps some people might find it easier to begin with the third Person and work backwards. God is love, and that love is, from all eternity, a love going on between the Father and the Son.
C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity

Today¹ we are celebrating the feast of Pentecost. A regular feature of Pentecost tends to be a talk based on the Acts reading, Joel’s prophecy and tongues of fire.

And so, I am going to talk about our Gospel reading from John; where Jesus us reassuring the disciples that this is not the end of their relationship with Him. They would not be abandoned or left helpless as Jesus was going to the Father to send the Holy Spirit to be with them … and us.

Jesus said, “Believe in God, believe also in me”. This is a fundamental relationship of trust.

Jesus graciously left the gift of His peace. He said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you”.

True peace is not derived from circumstances, people or things; true peace is derived from Jesus. His peace is peculiarly His to give as He purchased it with His precious blood. Jesus was the substitution for a perishing world. Jesus was commissioned to bring peace to mankind.

Jesus is The Way!

To know Jesus is to know both the way and the destination, which is communion with the Father. In order to complete His atonement for our sin Jesus had to leave and return to the Father. But Jesus leaving is linked to the role of the Holy Spirit – the Helper Jesus had referred to previously.

Jesus was returning to the Father to prepare a place for us.

Jesus is The Way, The Truth and The Life!

Jesus in His life, ministry, actions, everything that He did showed us GOd. Now it is time for Him to return to the Father, He promises the companionship of the Holy Spirit so that the disciples, and us, will be able to continue in Jesus’s way of doing things.

We can only understand and know the Holy Spirit if we know and understand the unity of the other two Persons of the Trinity – the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is often thought of as this bond of love between Father and Son.

Jesus describes the Holy Spirit a “another Advocate to be with you forever”. The love of the Father and His desire to be reconciled with His creation is what led to Jesus’s incarnation in the first place and is the reason for God sending the Spirit to us; God is our Advocate – the one who is by our side, no matter what, no matter which persona of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) it is.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and will be in us – not just by our side.

This Spirit is in us, united with us, the way the Father and the Son are united in each other. This bond with the Spirit enables the Spirit to be our guide in life just as Jesus did the will of God His Father.

The Holy Spirit is our guiding light – our tongue of fire – if the Spirit dwells in us.

But because it is the guiding light for those in whom it dwells, the world cannot receive the Spirit. The world refuses to see the Spirit of Truth alongside them, tapping them on the shoulder with a call to repentance. They do not want to return to being God’s original and beautiful masterpiece. They only see their own gain and not the loveliness of God.

If we can see it in Jesus, if we can see that the Holy Spirit is by our side and in our lives. If we can recognise the real truth and call upon our God to help us do the things He would have us do, then we will know the presence of God within us and His guiding light before us – our tongue of Spirit fire.

8th June 2025 ↩︎

Do You Want To Be Healed?

John 5:1-9

This short but potent passage from John contains themes of healing, restoration and the transforming power of faith. It symbolises humanity’s need for divine intervention and the opportunity of spiritual renewal through encountering Christ. The pool represents the need to seek God’s grace and trust in His ability to heal both physically and spiritually.

The man in this passage had been unable to walk for 38 years and had given up hope that he could be healed.

From John’s brief account and if we were to read on further we can ascertain that this inform man was old (well over the life expectancy of the time), a dependant who was unable to care for himself, he liked to complain and put the blame on others, he was an unrepentant sinner who was ungrateful and disloyal.

Jesus’s healing of this man would have been at the direction of God the Father and is an example of God’s complete and utter grace.

God saves sinners.

God saw us in our hopeless, helpless condition and rescued us. He gives hope to the hopeless and help to the helpless.

Jesus cares about people even when problems make them feel hopeless or sad.

Jesus healed the man and he was able to walk again.

Jesus brushes off the excuses of the lame man. Don’t make excuses – work around them.

We wait too long to ask for healing. Instead seize the moment and ask God to work in your life. It’s not easy to live with illness and hope for healing.

Spiritual healing may occur without physical healing. A positive outlook in the face of our own disease or injury, and as our bodies age, is a miracle in itself. We have to do our part to maintain good health. Small changes to improve our health is part of the healing process.

God helps those who can not help themselves.

God helps those who see their inability to save or help themselves, who turn from self to the saviour and trust in God.

All the healings Jesus performed remind us that God saves sinners.

Without God it is impossible for man to save himself.

We need God to give us feet to walk in His ways, we need to receive eyes to see His truth and have strength to walk in obedience to Him.

This is a picture of God’s initiative in salvation and He saves us by His grace.

Jesus saw the man. He knew him. He spoke to him.

God sees us. God knows us. He then speaks to us.

Jesus came to give us life abundantly.

Boring and Mundane

Advance warning – my story of faith is not dramatic! I know I am not the only one here who has sat in a church meeting where the minister has asked for people to give testimony or to talk about finding the light and thought “but I’ve always believed”. The reality is my story is ordinary and mundane.

I had a Christian family and learnt about Jesus from an extremely young age. I’ve belonged to and been part of church my whole life.

And, having explained that I have no dramatic Hollywood style event to entertain you with, I could stop here …

…or I could, which is what I’m going to do, continue anyway and tell you more – including why it is that ordinary mundane testimonies can be a blessing to us.

Being a Christian and following a Christian life is difficult – and it’s supposed to be. Remember that old adage that implies that something’s worth is measured by how hard you had to work for it. God, through His grace and His Son Jesus Christ, has given us the most valuable gift of all; but to follow in our Lord’s footsteps takes hard work and perseverance.

We are called to faithfulness. We are persecuted, we suffer, we face trials tribulations. temptation and false teachers trying to send us off track.

When times are difficult we are tempted to give up and many do fall away. The epistles remind us to persevere, to put on God’s armour. to stand firm and to ensure in following Jesus Christ.

Remaining steadfast, staying on the narrow path and being faithful teach the need to focus on persevering, to continue to put our trust in God and to not falter.

The well known poem about the footsteps in the sand really is true. God never leaves us. Whilst people fall away and leave Him; He does not abandon us.

When I give my burdens to Him I feel a physical lightness and literally feel the weight removed from my shoulders as He takes the load for me.

When times are easy, I feel His presence walking beside me and we enjoy the journey together.

If things are more difficult I feel His hand in mine.

In times of great trial He is supporting me or carrying me if you like.

And in times of great sorrow I feel His arms around me as He embraces me with His great love and comfort.

This is certainly a great blessing and in return I pray that God will continue to fill me with His love so that it can overflow through me to others.

We are called to carry each other’s burdens, encourage and bring back the wanderers. We are called to follow Christ’s example to aspire to God’s standard and to repent of all – however mundane – that makes us guilty of not reaching that standard.

God told us to pass His teachings to our children. Having parents, teachers, ministers and peers who did this points to God’s continued faithfulness as does having been preserved in the faith. God catches me when I stumble.

He has blessed me and kept me. He has blessed you and kept you.

So let us sing of His great love for evermore and make His faithfulness known through all generations and let us give thanks to God.

Tell Us Who You Are

The Jews asked Jesus whether He was the promised one from God.

In his writings, John has told us that this event took place during the Jewish Festival of Dedication. This festival is also called Hanukkah or the Festival of Lights; and it takes place in remembrance of the purification, or cleansing, of the Temple, in 164 BC, after the desecration committed by a king of Syria called Antiochus Epiphanes in 170 BC.

During this Festival of Lights there would be great illuminations in the Temple and in every Jesish home as a reminder of the light of freedom coming back to Israel – the freedom won to worship God. It is significant that Jesus chose this time to say “I am the light of the world, I alone can light men into the knowledge and presence of God”.

The location of this event was Solomon’s Porch. Now the first court in the Temple precincts was the Court of the Gentiles and along two sides ran the Royal Porch and Solomon’s Porch. These were rows of magnificent pillars, almost 40 feet high and roofed, where people walked to pray and meditate. Rabbis walked there teaching their students the doctrines of faith.

This was where the Jews chose to ask Jesus whether He was the one promised from God.

Some of those asking would have been genuinely wanting to know but others were trying to trap Jesus. Jesus did not fall into the trap, simply saying He had already told them who He was.

There is a saying that actions speak louder than words.

Every miracle performed by Jesus testified that the Messiah had come.

Jesus’s words, the authority with which He spoke, the way He explained the scriptures and put His teaching in their place, showed that God was speaking in Him.Both the words and deeds of Jesus were a continuous claim to be the anointed one of God.

The sheep of a shepherd knows his call.

Jesus is the good shepherd.

He knows His sheep, who follow Him when He calls.

And, to those who accept Jesus, He promises eternal life that would know no end and that is secure.

Jesus promised that for those who accept Him as Lord and Master and become members of His flock, the littleness of earthly life would be gone and His flock will know the splendour and magnificence of the life of God. Jesus promised that death would not be the end but the beginning with the glory of indestructible life.

And security. Jesus promised that nothing can snatch His sheep from His hand.

This does not mean that there would be no sorrow or suffering but that in sorrow and at the darkest hour they would still be conscious of the everlasting arms underneath and about them.

Even in a world crashing to disaster they would know the serenity of God.

God’s promise is true. His arms are around us, embracing us in His love. I say this from my own experience of feeling God’s loving arms when times are tough.

It is God who gave Jesus the sheep. Both Jesus and His sheep are in the Father’s hand. We are secure in God’s power.

The bond of unity is love. Proof of love is obedience. We are one with one another if we are bound in Christ obeying the words of Christ and following His example. Jesus was one with God because He loved and obeyed Him perfectly and He came to this world to make us what He is – one with God.

He Is Risen!

Listening to the readings again on Easter Sunday with the women going to the tomb to prepare Jesus’s body reminds me of something I read recently about Mary – Jesus’s mother.

It is interesting, is it not, that Jesus’s mother – arguably His greatest disciple, a woman of tremendous faith, who stayed by Him to the bitter end, is not listed amongst the women going to attend to Jesus’s body.

And this poses the theory that the first person Jesus appeared to may well have been His mother and that this is why she was not among those going to the tomb at dawn. Such an appearance would be part of completing her participation in the essential parts of the paschal mystery.

Mary suffered above all others in the suffering and death of her son. Christ kept the commandments. He honoured His heavenly Father, His earthly father and His mother, so it makes sense that he’d visit her first.

If a son lived far away and his mother was told he’d died but he was actually alive and healthy and he returned to the area, it would highlight that he was not a good son if he visited his friends first and his mother last.

Jesus was the perfect son. So, why would He not visit His mother first. There’s also her faith, which, despite the apostles losing theirs at Jesus’s passion, Mary had in abundance. Scripture tells us that the Lord shows Himself to those who have faith in Him. And, of course, she loved her son so much and scripture tells us that those who love Him will be visited by Him.

How joyful she must have felt at seeing her son alive once more.

There is a special kind of joy at Easter. It’s not just the spring flowers springing up into life or the longer days. What it is is a deep, radiant joy born from our Lord’s victory over sin and death so that we might have eternal life with Him.

Jesus leaves the darkness and rises to new life. Through God’s grace, this gives us the gift that, no matter what our past was, we have permission to leave it behind and embrace the hope and joy of new lives in Christ. His sacrifice and act of intermediary reconciliation grants us forgiveness of our past sins, our present sins and our future sins.