Probably most of us, at some time or other, yearn for the ‘good old days’ (or at least the way we remember them), or, at very least, an improvement in the way that things are just now.  I believe that the answer comes from concerted prayer, both individually and as a group, from turning to God and asking for His help and His direction.  This has ‘worked’ to turn things around in the past, and I do believe that it could happen again.

The Scriptures are most adamant that we need to do more than just pay attention and listen.  They also bid us, just as would any teacher or parent, to act on those instructions, that is, to obey.  And here today’s Scriptures are rather pointed: they suggest that our obedience to God’s direction, God’s words, is an outward sign of our love for Him.  That puts a rather pointed sense to it.  Disobedience = a lack of love?  Yuck.  May we, you and I, never fall prey to that.

Scripture and history both tell us that mere interest in something, mere curiosity, is never enough.  They need to be translated into making a decision, into action.  Sadly, we see this with Herod Antipas and with the crowds that thronged around Jesus.  They were glad to see and hear but not to respond.  So, what can transform them?  On the day of Pentecost we see the crowd finally coming around, so maybe it is the action of the Holy Spirit.  If this be so, let us pray that the Holy Spirit will move in a powerful and dynamic way among the hosts of people today who still have not chosen to follow Jesus.

It is so very easy, and natural, to become almost totally preoccupied with the day to day details of simply living that we forget the things of God or forget what God has done for us.  This happened to the Hebrew people when they went from their long sojourn in the Wilderness into the Promised Land.  Why, there were houses to build, crops and livestock to attend to, and families to raise.  And, in a sense, this is what has happened to much of our present generation.  Earlier on, recalling what God had done was still relatively fresh in their minds, but as time went on, the memory became dimmer and dimmer, so such a point that our present generation is scarcely aware of it at all.  Instead, they are absorbed in home and workplace and hockey games and dance lessons, and a myriad of other things.  God somehow either disappears from the picture or becomes rather remote.  This is why telling His story, and our stories of His doings, becomes all the more important.  May God give us the means to do so, and the opportunity and timing.  Amen.

I guess that it is one of our recurrent and prevalent human failings, namely, to think that our way of thinking and behaving is the natural way--and the right way, and then passing judgment on those who don’t ‘happen’ to see it our way.  And, sadly, we often wrap this up with the trappings of religiosity with the effect that it seems even more right thing to believe or do.  So, Paul’s advice to leave off judgment in many matters, and simply leave it to God, is rather sound advice.

The Scriptures seem to make a distinction between listening and hearing.  By this, I understand ‘listening’ to refer to the outward ability to receive what has been said, that is, to take in the words, and ‘hearing’ to understand them and apply them.  This, I would assert, is a crucial difference, one that also applies to us.  God wants us to do more than simply take in His message but also to apply it, to obey it.  That is what really identifies us as His family, as His disciples, as the ones who belong to Him.

There are two lies the enemy of our souls tries to foist upon us.  The first is that we don’t really matter and that nothing we do will ever significantly change things.  And the second is the certain people and situations are simply beyond redemption, beyond any hope of change or improvement.  Either way, the temptation is to ‘write-off’ people, whether ourselves or others.  But that isn’t God’s way.  He never writes off anyone, and always sees a possibility forward whether for ourselves or others.  He never gives up hope.  Thanks be to God.

David, both before and after he became king of Israel, had plenty of opportunities when he needed to call upon the Lord for help, plenty of times when he desperately needed that help.  I would suggest that we, you and I, while not having such ‘harrowing’ times, such extreme times, still have plenteous occasions when we should be calling on the Lord for help but fail to do so.  My suggestion is, then, that we become more habitual in doing this, more habitual in asking for God’s help even in the more mundane and ordinary of our circumstances.

Jesus certainly has some rather bracing and challenging commands, but perhaps the most difficult is this: “This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.”  And what was the extent of His love?  In that love, He went ‘all the way’, even onto death.  While this will normally not be the extent to which we are called, it certainly does suggest far more than the half-hearted or cursory or feeble attempt is sometimes our response.  And, of course, it is far more than just loving when we ‘feel like it.’  If you’re at all like me, you need some extra divine help in this regard.  Thanks be to God that it is readily available, just there for the asking.

Today’s Scripture passage and meditation both touch on how we function together as the Church, the Body of Christ.  Here we need to realize that this impacts more than just our functioning as a congregation--though that, indeed, is very important, for if we fail to function smoothly and coordinately, things won’t go that well.  But there is another aspect of our functioning that we need to consider, and that is, how the world outside of the church sees us.  If we are at war with ourselves, or functioning poorly, that too, is something that almost invariably will be picked up on by those around us.  Those things will be noticed and certainly won’t help our reputation.  However, the opposite can also be true: in the early Church it was noticed by outsiders how they cared for each other in very practical ways.  “See how they love one another’ they said, which also attracted people to want to become part of it.  That should be something at work in our churches today as well.

Psalm 51 has to be one of the more memorable psalms, precisely because it deals with King David’s nasty business with Bathsheba and its fallout, its repercussions.  But it is also memorable because it speaks of God’s forgiveness--regardless of our deeds--and of His willingness always to forget the past and help us start all over again.  This is great news because all of us, no matter who or what we might be, flub it badly at times, and so are in need of God’s forgiveness and restoration.  Thank God that this is always possible, always available.

Here, in today’s passage and meditation we have a real stickler, a real challenge: we are to be like our Heavenly Father, or like Christ.  But, as I found out rather dramatically and sadly, that is entirely impossible for us to pull off, impossible, that is, in our own strength and ability.  Imagine: trying to be like God when we don’t have the wisdom or power of God.  Ludicrous.  But fortunately, we can have the power of God’s Holy Spirit in us and working in and through us.  We can tap into God’s own power, and so it no longer we that are doing it, but God within us.  That makes all the difference in the world.

Winston Churchill knew something that we often don’t, namely that calling people to something big and challenging (blood, sweat and tears) often reaps far better results than passing it off as something pretty simple and undemanding, which is something that we do far too often when looking for volunteers.  Jesus is in the same league as Churchill, letting us, His followers and disciples, know that the road ahead may be pretty rough and rocky at times, but that it will be okay in the end.  It means that we can count the cost and be ready for ‘the long haul’ with fewer surprises.  Thanks be to God.

Given the sadness and despair expressed in today’s psalm a quote from a recent church bulletin seems most appropriate.  A visitor attended a church service at a village church in France during World War II.  It was Easter Sunday, and though the villagers were obviously in great need and peril, their praises were real, and uplifting.  They sang with fervour, “Christ the Lord is risen today, hallelujah.”  The visitor had the sense that ‘no matter how dark the present might be or the future might become, there was still the strength of the risen Christ, that victory which overcomes the world.’  And so it is with us as well: Christ is indeed risen, and the worst that happens to us or our world, is mere nothings compared to His victory.

Some things never change: the early church had trouble keeping two things together, love for one another in the body of Christ, the Church, and adherence to the truth ‘once delivered to the saints’, and so too do we.  We have some who emphasize caring for ‘the least of these my brothers and sisters’, especially those who are marginalized in some ways, at the expense of doctrine and what the Bible is understood as plainly teaches.  And there are others who so emphasize doctrine that they are seen as uncaring for the needy.  (I say, ‘seen’, because I do not believe this to necessarily be true.)  As it is, both of these are essential, and must be held together, albeit in some tension.  That was the task of the church to which John wrote so many years ago, and it is equally the task of the church today.  May God guide us and assist us with His help in this daunting task.

Here’s a question for all of us: just what is it that gets our attention, that is, calls us to renew or strengthen our relationship, and our commitment, to our Lord Jesus Christ?  My suspicion is that it varies tremendously according to who we are and what we’ve been through.  Whatever that particular thing might be, my conviction is that God, in Christ Jesus, is always calling us to Himself--which means that our task is to hear, to listen, and to respond.

Here we see that Jesus is ‘on the job for us’.  However, I find that it’s quite refreshing that He isn’t rule bound, or demand driven.  He knows that it is vital for Him to have time apart with God, and while the Sabbath is an ideal time, it doesn’t quite work.  And so He carves out for Himself another, alternative, time.  And where some of us can be demand driven, Jesus isn’t.  There will always be far more work to be done than time allows, and far more demands than we can ever meet, but Jesus doesn’t let that worry Him.  He merely chooses to be more deliberate, and strategic, which meant consulting His Heavenly Father for what tasks to take on, and what ones to just let slide.  Here Jesus is a good role model for us: He is always ‘on the job’, but He does so only in the ways that fit in with God’s all-knowing and all-loving plan and purpose.  Thanks be to God.

Come springtime, it doesn’t hurt to carry out some spring check-ups.  For instance, we might want to ensure that our vehicles are ready in terms of tires, washer fluid and windshield wipers.  And, if we’re gardeners, we might check up on our hoses and sprinklers, clean out some hedges and flower beds, and maybe even start some bedding out plants.

Now, in terms of the church year, Lent was traditionally a time for self-examination, but maybe the Easter season would be an appropriate time as well--to look at our lives in terms of all that God in Christ Jesus has done for us, and then, to adjust our lives and behaviours accordingly.  Anyway, it’s a thought.