Light dispels Darkness

The 40-day period of Lent, with its emphasis on prayer and fasting, can be a dark time. We can feel restricted and limited, having agreed to give up some food item, or limit our daily activities in some way. We want to make a special effort to focus on God, but the very nature of a special effort is that it is more effort than normal, and therefore it is not easy.

Holy Week can be even darker. It is the last week of Lent, and Christian folk are aware that during the first Easter Week, Jesus was coming face-to-face with the climax of his ministry. He was going to die.

He knew it would not be a peaceful, gentle death, at home, in bed, with his family gathered round to smooth his passing. No, it was going to be violent, painful, cruel, degrading, just awful.

Jesus' disciples were hoping that as Jesus confronted the religious and secular authorities, he would overcome their resistance, subdue their opposition, and take his rightful place, on the throne, in the temple, ruling over all things.

But that didn't happen. That was not what Jesus came to do. He came to die.

Jesus knew that his death would only be temporary, but he still had to suffer the pain from the beatings, the nails, and the slow suffocation and constriction of crucifixion on the cross. His mind knew he was safe, but he felt abandoned, even by his Father, God. He died.

The annual Easter Play, in Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens, will take place on Saturday (April 3rd), at 10:30am and 2:30pm. Why not go along and see the story of Easter Week unfolding in front of your eyes. Be there. See it. Hear it for yourself.

On the Sunday morning after Friday's Crucifixion, when the Sabbath was over, Mary and the others discovered the stone rolled away, and no sign of Jesus' body. Then, wonder of wonders, they met Jesus. They spoke with him, they touched him, they ate with him, they walked with him.

Jesus' disciples had been in the depths of despair. The light of their lives had been snuffed out and they were in total darkness.

When Jesus was raised from death, the light came back into their lives. It wasn't the end after all, but neither was it the same as before.

Jesus was with them, but not all the time. They had to be responsible themselves. They were given the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus had the Holy Spirit, but they had to take forward Jesus' mission themselves. You can read all about their exciting adventure in the Acts of the Apostles, or you can see it in practice in Church on Sunday.

Jesus Christ is Risen. He calls us all to follow him, through death, into eternal life. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Journeying Back in Time

Yesterday I spent an enjoyable evening with other folk who are supporting the Try Praying project.

Each week during Lent the leadership team have invited people who have been reading, or distributing, or promoting, the Try Praying booklet to gather together to pray for our nation, our city, our communities, and our churches.

Yesterday's gathering was in Liberton Kirk, on the south side of Edinburgh.

The Kirk is not a particularly old building, yet I felt I was journeying back in time. That building was the place where my wife and I were married. It was the place where I made my first public profession of my Christian faith. It was the place I went to with my parents and grandparents every Sunday. It was the place where I first learned about Jesus, my Lord and my Saviour.

It is more than 30 years since my wife and I moved away from Liberton. Since then we have returned occasionally, but rarely had much opportunity to talk to people we used to know.

On reflection, we didn't know many people outside of my own family, and my parents' circle of friends.

So it was nice last night, to speak to three people who remembered me, and my family, during those days of my childhood.

But such friendships from the past emphasise the long journey I have travelled since those days. Children born and now near to leaving home. Jobs in different places, and now a change of career altogether. Trips to far-off lands, such as Taiwan, India, Russia, and the USA.

Through all that journeying, Jesus has been with me. Not as the man from Nazareth, but the God of the Universe, journeying with me, and within me, by his Holy Spirit. Unseen, but not unknown. Intangible, but not ineffectual. Loved, and loving.

On the journey I have changed. I used to be shy and lacking in confidence, but now I stand before hundreds of people and share with them my experiences and understanding of God. I used to be selfish and private, but now I try to put other folk first and be open about my short-comings.

My interactions with other folk have changed me. My own thinking and experiences have changed me. But most of all God has changed me, by his Spirit within, making me more like Him, more like Jesus.

During these days of Lent, I have been thinking of long-past events in Jesus' life, and past events in my own life. Also, I have been thinking and praying about what lies ahead. Where next will God lead me on my journey with Him?

I don't know yet. There are many possibilities, with some more likely than others. At times I am excited by the prospect of what might lie around the corner. At other times, I am concerned about how it will all work out. What should I be doing that I am not doing? What should I not be doing that I am doing? Can I trust God to keep us all safe as we journey with Him?

Lent is a good time for considering such questions. Jesus showed us the way. He stared defeat in the face, and won through to the victory. You can trust Him.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Journeying to the Cross

Labyrinths have become quite popular recently. We had one at Winchburgh Church last year, and you can find some photos and words from that in last year's Posts.

Some of my trainee friends are involved in making labyrinths in their placement churches. Another friend has a portable labyrinth that can be set up in a large hall. There is a permanent labyrinth installation in George Square garden in Edinburgh.

The whole point of a labyrinth is that it creates a very long journey within a comparatively small area. The complexity of the trail often makes it difficult to predict what twists and turns will lie ahead.

Sometimes we can become impatient as we journey along the path of life and we want to sort-circuit the trail and head directly for the destination. That may be the simplest and quickest solution, but then we will miss out on all the expereince, development, and preparation, that would have taken place on the longer winding trail that we avoided.

As we enter the second half of the 40-day Lenten period, there is that temptation to rush ahead, and short-circuit the journey to Easter. We don't want to think about the entrance into Jerusalem on a lowly donkey. We don't want to consider the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, even although he had just shared the Last Supper with Jesus and the other disciples.

When Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane all the other disciples ran away and left Jesus in the hands of the soldiers. We don't want to put ourselves in their shoes and wonder what we would have done.

Pilate submitted to the political pressures and authorised his soldiers to flog and then crucify Jesus. How have we compromised our beliefs in the face of pressures from other people? Pilate said, "What is truth?"

Before he was arrested Jesus could have escaped. After he was arrested he could have given up his ministry and his claims to be sent from God, even to be God. But maybe he would have been crucified anyway. What would you have done?

Jesus remained faithful to the end. He laid down his life, and bore the pain of abandonment and torture, knowing the ultimately, God would not abandon him forever.

On Easter Sunday, he rose from the grave to eternal life. He invites all of us to join him, but there is no easy short-cut. But there is a prize worth winning, worth persevering to the end.

The early Christian martyrs were confident that their future was secure, despite bodily death. They didn't fight against the persecution. They didn't kill their opponents. They went joyfully to the arena to face the gladiators or wild animals, or to the flames of the martyrs' pyre.

Walking a labyrinth is not difficult. There is no pain involved, unless walking itself is painful for you. God calls each of us to spend time with Him, to get to know Him, to walk with Him, to Follow Him.

He loves you, and He will never forsake you nor abandon you.

Four Weeks

Only four more weeks until Easter. Where has the time gone?!

I have two extra services to prepare for in the week before Easter, as well as regular Sunday worship. So I need to get a move on.

Now that we are two and a half weeks into Lent I wonder if you have come any closer to God in these days of preparation.

It seems to me I see his smiling face, his twinkling eyes, his arms outstretched in welcome and encouragement. He calls us all to run the race of life.

God does not only stand at the finishing line waiting, he runs with us, and lives within us. Run, with all your heart, your strength, and your mind.