Brothers and Sisters As I look out of the window this morning at the lightly falling snow, I wonder, as we all do, what the spring will bring. I have a hopeful daffodil blossoming under the kitchen window, yellow head nodding under a shower of white sleet, and it reminds me of my own experience: hoping for a good spring and yet knowing that at the moment we are still in the winter. We are in the winter as a nation battling Covid-19; we are in the winter as a congregation seeking God’s direction for the next decades; we are in the winter as people hoping to be allowed to hug our friends and meet for coffee and potter around garden centres, galleries and theatres.
When Jesus walked this earth, the Jewish people too were in a kind of winter. Occupied by Rome, they struggled to find ways to live at peace. Many of the leaders of the day achieved this by coming to some sort of accommodation with the conquering army, others tried to rebel, while others were focused on getting through each day and tried not to let it impinge upon them too much.
Faced, not with an occupying virus, but an occupying army, Jesus went around healing and teaching – sharing food and fellowship along with a unique understanding of the love of God.
There will be days when the very existence of the pandemic and its impact on our lives may challenge our faith. On those days, it is worth remembering that although there were people who wanted Jesus to lead them in a military coup against the oppressor, that is not what he offered. Instead, he taught them to be God’s people in the middle of an occupied land; to trust that God would lead them and feed them, but not fulfil their every wish like some genie in a lamp or great Father Christmas in the sky.
Times like this help us to readdress our theology. When we catch ourselves asking God, “Why have you let this happen?” and then remember all the other times that bad things happened to good people we are reminded that our faith is not about sunshine every day, but rainbows glimmering after the storm, freedom after slavery, hope after fear, resurrection after death and love after all seems lost. Perhaps the real reason it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven is that when we need nothing, there is no reason to pray; when we have everything we want by the work of our own hands, we have no reason to thank; when we are well, we have no need of healing; and when all our needs are met, we do not notice the poverty of our spirits, nor do we remember to bring our cares to God. God bless
Vicci
Prayers for the Nation
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby invites everyone to join him at 6 pm each day during February. Please follow this link: https://www.churchofengland.org