Are we nearly there yet?

•March 18, 2011 • Leave a Comment

So here’s the Moses and the snake story, Jesus mentioned in John 3:14

Numbers 21:4-9

Moses Makes a Bronze Snake

4The Israelites had to go around the territory of Edom, so when they left Mount Hor, they headed south toward the Red Sea. But along the way, the people became so impatient 5that they complained against God and said to Moses, ” Did you bring us out of Egypt, just to let us die in the desert? There’s no water out here, and we can’t stand this awful food!” 6Then the LORD sent poisonous snakes that bit and killed many of them.

7Some of the people went to Moses and admitted, ” It was wrong of us to insult you and the LORD. Now please ask him to make these snakes go away.”

Moses prayed, 8and the LORD answered, ” Make a snake out of bronze and place it on top of a pole. Anyone who gets bitten can look at the snake and won’t die.”

9Moses obeyed the LORD. And all of those who looked at the bronze snake lived, even though they had been bitten by the poisonous snakes.

I know when some families set out on long journeys, they are faced with the inevitable “are we nearly there yet?” questions.  Some more often than others.  We were very fortunate, our children always loved long journeys – the down side being that they refused to sleep, because they didn’t want to miss anything.  They insisted that the journey was all part of a holiday(sometimes the best bit!)

The Israelites fell into the former category for Moses.  They had set out on their journey from Egypt to the promised land.  They should have been delighted and excited, setting out on a journey with God, seeing where he was going to lead them.  Instead they moaned and complained – it’s just desert, there’s no water, the food is awful.

Now wandering around in the desert is no fun, but they had forgotten what they had left behind, the terrors God was saving them from.

Lent is a journey, as if life.  It is not always easy.  We will pass through the desert, it is inevitable.  There will be days when what we had before, however bad it was, will seem preferable to where we are now.  But the desert has to be crossed, it is the way from where we are to where we’re going.

The desert can be a time of stripping away, of realising what is really important, of learning to rely on God and God alone.  Can we live with it for a while?  Use it as an opportunity to take stock?  To learn the lessons of the desert?  Or do we want to get it over and done with?

The people learnt the hard way that God was with them and would look after them.

However vast the desert seems, God is there.  God goes before us and travels with us. He will protect us, wherever our journey leads us.

Lord

we know

there will be times when we have to cross the desert.

When we have to leave behind what we know,

move on;

when we will discover what really matters;

some times we will just have to endure.

Thank you that you live in the desert

as well as the grassy planes.

Thank you

that wherever our journey leads us

you are there.

You provide what we need

and keep us safe.

May we cross the desert

remembering you,

not wasting our time moaning,

but receive your love and protection.

 

Posted in God, Lectionary, lent
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Life is for living

•March 17, 2011 • Leave a Comment

John 3:1-17

Jesus and Nicodemus

1There was a man named Nicodemus who was a Pharisee and a Jewish leader. 2One night he went to Jesus and said, “Sir, we know that God has sent you to teach us. You could not work these miracles, unless God were with you.”3Jesus replied, “I tell you for certain that you must be born from above before you can see God’s kingdom!”

4Nicodemus asked, “How can a grown man ever be born a second time?”

5Jesus answered:

I tell you for certain that before you can get into God’s kingdom, you must be born not only by water, but by the Spirit. 6Humans give life to their children. Yet only God’s Spirit can change you into a child of God. 7Don’t be surprised when I say that you must be born from above. 8Only God’s Spirit gives new life. The Spirit is like the wind that blows wherever it wants to. You can hear the wind, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going.

9“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10Jesus replied:

How can you be a teacher of Israel and not know these things? 11I tell you for certain that we know what we are talking about because we have seen it ourselves. But none of you will accept what we say. 12If you don’t believe when I talk to you about things on earth, how can you possibly believe if I talk to you about things in heaven?

13No one has gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from there. 14And the Son of Man must be lifted up, just as that metal snake was lifted up by Moses in the desert. 15Then everyone who has faith in the Son of Man will have eternal life. 16God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. 17God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them!

We recently had to get a new washer.  The previous one was condemned – useless, not longer able to do what was asked of it.  Our white goods are easily disposable and easily replaceable.  They go wrong, we get rid.

Not so with people.  Things go wrong, we have to try and make them right again.

That was what Jesus came for.  To put right what has gone wrong in the world; to show another way, if only people will listen; to give the chance to start again.

Nicodemus asks searching questions of Jesus.  He sees God in him, but is trying to work it all out.

Jesus tells him that he has to start again – a different way.  Like being born all over again in to a different way of life.

Jesus is the only one who has shared heaven with God.  He has come now to share that on earth.  To show and share God’s love – that we too may share in God’s ways.

God sees that things have gone wrong, but he doesn’t want to condemn us, to dispose of us.  He loves us and wants life to be better for all people.

Jesus hasn’t come to condemn us, but to save us – every one of us.  Will we let him?

Thank you Lord

for loving me.

Thank you Jesus

for being willing to come to earth

to show the depth of your love.

Thank you that your offer of love

and a new start

is for each and every one of us.

Thank you for inviting us

to live again,

to live your way.

May we receive your love

and your life

this day

and every day.

Posted in Jesus, Lectionary, lent, life
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Bad News, Good News

•March 16, 2011 • Leave a Comment

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

1Well then, what can we say about our ancestor Abraham? 2If he became acceptable to God because of what he did, then he would have something to brag about. But he would never be able to brag about it to God. 3The Scriptures say, “God accepted Abraham because Abraham had faith in him.”

4Money paid to workers isn’t a gift. It is something they earn by working. 5But you cannot make God accept you because of something you do. God accepts sinners only because they have faith in him.

13God promised Abraham and his descendants that he would give them the world. This promise wasn’t made because Abraham had obeyed a law, but because his faith in God made him acceptable. 14If Abraham and his descendants were given this promise because they had obeyed a law, then faith would mean nothing, and the promise would be worthless.15God becomes angry when his Law is broken. But where there isn’t a law, it cannot be broken. 16Everything depends on having faith in God, so that God’s promise is assured by his great kindness. This promise isn’t only for Abraham’s descendants who have the Law. It is for all who are Abraham’s descendants because they have faith, just as he did. Abraham is the ancestor of us all. 17The Scriptures say that Abraham would become the ancestor of many nations. This promise was made to Abraham because he had faith in God, who raises the dead to life and creates new things.

Bad news:  we can’t make God like us.  We can’t win his love or earn it.

Good news: we don’t have to.

Basically if God’s acceptance of us relied on anything we could do, we would be lost.  There is nothing we can do that will bring us up to God’s standard that he intended for the world.  We have, collectively, got it too far wrong.  God has every right to be angry with each one of us for the things we have done, and the things we haven’t done that could have made a difference.

But he isn’t.

Not if we come on this journey with him.  All it takes to be right with God is wanting to be.  Knowing we have got things wrong, and putting ourselves back in his hands.  Leaving the past behind and walking onwards with him.

Faith is just that.  Confidence, not just in ourselves and our own abilities, but in God’s.

He waits for us to reach out to him.

Thank you Lord

for your kindness to me;

for accepting me,

however far I am from what you meant for me.

May I step out

in faith of you

not me.

Posted in faith, God, Lectionary, lent
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