I will always remember a leader of the Jesus People responding to a question at a coffee house. He was asked, ‘how did you find God?’ He answered, “I did not find God, He found me. It was not as if I was reaching up to God, but that He was reaching down to me when I could do nothing in or of myself to reach up to Him.”

Parallel to this line of thinking is that we ‘discover’ God through our searching and reading and pondering, or that we discover ‘the reality’ of who God is my means of our logic and investigations. The reality is just the opposite, namely that God reveals Himself to us, rather than us ‘finding’ Him in some way.

That is something of the thinking behind today’s passage. The apostle Paul alleges that Jew and Greek alike are trying to ‘find’ God through their own intellects, but are hampered by what their culture and religious backgrounds say about God. It is only as they put these aside and let God speak in His own way, and in His own truth, that they find out what is true about God. And so it is with us as well.

We are so accustomed to our ‘unhappy divisions’ that we almost take them for granted, which is rather too bad, and certainly what our Lord wanted. And yet, our differences and the variety that we offer in terms of our faith practice actually are helpful in certain ways. Not everyone has the same preference when it comes to worship styles for instance, and not everyone has the same inner need for the freedom of individual thought and choice on the one hand, or for a more fully defined and ordered regimen, on the other. Our differences therefore mean that there is a place for everyone. And so perhaps even more so, we can work together in harmony, knowing that our differences are really strengths that can be harmonized to build up and strengthen the entire body of Christ, the Church. Anyway, that is my thought.

An old song--from the Sixties I think--said “I got troubles, oh, oh”, and isn’t that the story of our lives. We all have troubles, sorrows, and difficulties. They are part of our everyday existence, so how do we deal with them? The apostle Paul in today’s Scripture passage has a suggestion, namely, to work together, both with each other and with God. And, while this may not make our troubles go away, it will certainly make putting up with them much easier.

The subject of today’s meditation is ‘focus’, namely the focus of our lives, which should, most naturally, be Jesus. However, I don’t know about you, but for me I find it far too easy to have my focus on pretty well everything else, the house, the news, the church, the community, the weather, you name it. So, what if we were to intentionally make Jesus the focus of the forty days of Lent? What would that look like?

So, here’s an idea: what if each of us were to take the Gospel passage for each Sunday, read it and then meditate upon it throughout the week, and meditate on it with a particular focus in mind, namely to speak to us about Jesus and help us to know and love Him better. For ease in doing this, I have listed the Gospel readings appointed for each Sunday, together with a ‘starter' about its theme. See what you think.

Lent 1 - (Mark 1:9-15) The Temptation of Jesus: He knows exactly what it’s like for us because He’s been there Himself.

Lent 2 - (Mark 8:31-38) Jesus call to us to discipleship: calls us to something bigger and better, but He leads the way

Lent 3 - (John 2:13-22) The cleansing of the Temple: Jesus, out of love, is grieved when we ‘mess up'

Lent 4 - (John 3:14-21) God's purpose: to save the world, but to do so, had to send (give) His Son

(John 6:1-15) Feeding of the 5,000: Jesus meets our needs, through our self offering

Lent 5 - (John 12:20-33) Jesus, by His death, draws us to Himself

If you thought that yesterday’s Scripture passage and meditation were daunting in their implication, just wait until you read today’s. It is one thing to submit to the usually distant pronouncements of government, but, to restrict our own rights and freedoms simply to accommodate others! Unheard of in our permissive, rights oriented, freedom obsessed Western world. And yet, Paul says that we should willing do this, given that Jesus did this--and more--for us! Yuck.

Having grown up on the Canadian prairies amid noise about discriminatory freight rates, unfair treatment from the federal government and the supposition that Confederation was actually ‘set up’ purposely to benefit central Canada, I have a natural and inbuilt hesitation about government. And the fact that I lived in central Alberta during the elder Trudeau era and its regressive oil patch policies doesn’t help a bit. And so, as you might guess, today’s passage from Romans is a somewhat difficult one for me. So, what you find is something of my ‘wrestling’ with it, my trying to come to terms with it. I hope you find it stimulating, and even helpful.

One of Charlie Brown’s characters once said, “I love the world, it’s just people that I can’t stand.’ And isn’t that true, at least with some people. But the catch is that it is with people, agreeable ones or not, that the Christian life is to be lived. And so the question becomes ‘how do we live with them?’ That is that question that today’s Scripture passage and meditation deal with. I hope you find them stimulating and helpful.

A pastor friend once said that when the word ‘therefore’ appears in the Scriptures, it is good to ask yourself what it is ‘there for.” In other words, what call to action is it making. In chapter 12 of Romans this word appears immediately in verse one, followed by a whole shopping list of suggested actions. Today’s passage only touches on a few of them, so it would probably be most enlightening to continue on and see what else is being suggested. This is just an idea, but perhaps a great one as we rapidly come upon the season of Lent and its time of self-examination.

The Biblical story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery stokes all sorts of speculation over details that are never explained in the account. For instance, when Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dirt, just what was He writing? Some have suggested names, dates and places, which most surely would have stopped certain of the accusers in their tracks if they applied to them. (Seeing as God knows the secrets of our hearts, this might well have been the case.) And why is it that the older ones of her accusers left first? Was it because they’d had the time to reflect on their own lives and see where they’d fallen short--no longer filled with the bravado and carefree attitude of youth?

These are interesting matters of speculation, of which we will never know the answers in this life. But one thing we do know and this is it: God, in Christ Jesus, extends mercy and forgiveness to all sinners no matter who they are or what they have done--which includes all of us! So, let us accept that mercy and forgiveness--and live in it, now and always.

Here’s a question for all of us: what would your final or parting words be to a friend or loved one if you were parting, perhaps for good or for a long time? Today’s passage and meditation consist of some parting words from the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, and surely as such, they are worth pondering. But seeing as they also apply to us today, they are all the more worth studying--and applying.

The church season of Lent is soon upon us, which is a great time to examine our own individual lives and to especially look at our goals and priorities. Or, to use the title of today’s meditation, to pay attention to ‘our driving force.’ I don’t know about you, but I found this to be quite challenging, as I am naturally a servant type who is predisposed to meeting needs whenever or wherever they occur. And often I do this without even considering whether is what God wants or not. So, as I said, checking up on this is a bit bracing. Anyway, I will leave this to you and God.

Today’s passage put me in mind of a very simple question, namely, seeing as we know that Jesus is God and that His words and commands are from God, then why aren’t we more quick, more ready to obey Him? My answer would be that I don’t always like His commands--because they put me ‘out of my comfort’ zone, or because they’re inconvenient or difficult, or a myriad of other reasons. And sometimes I hope, rather in vain, that God will ‘change His mind’. Fat chance. Anyway, today we are reminded that it is best, and wise, to simply do as He says, and when and how He says it.

I guess that I am a dyed in the wool traditionalist, and an Anglican to boot. I can scarce ever remember a Sunday when I was not in church, not even when we were on holidays! Somehow, being there to worship God has always very, very important to me, even during those times during Covid when we were more restricted in terms of attendance and crowds. And this desire to attend was there even when the preacher was abyssal (as was often the case during my childhood) or the service boring. And, what I missed the most during some of the Covid lockdown was the ability to be together, to see each other in person rather than just on a computer screen. Zoom somehow just didn’t ‘cut it’ for me. And, of course, being in that special space, that place of worship hallowed by so many, was likewise something that I missed.

And so, I take great comfort, and great encouragement, that so many of our forebears in the faith also prized their places of worship and the services and rituals that took place there. I guess, if it was good enough for Mary and Joseph, and for Jesus, it certainly should be good enough for you and me.

Even though I loved running while in my youth, I was never very accomplished at it. For one thing, I was never as passionate or absolutely focused on winning as some of my colleagues were. For instance, some of them, while training, would wear weights or heavy cumbersome sweat pants or tops, simply to provide a sort of ‘resistance’--that is, to force them to work harder. And, of course, once those things were discarded, as on race day, they felt ‘light as a feather.’ I, for one, never went to that length. I somehow felt that I had enough of a resistance, inbuilt resistance you might say, already.

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews also speaks of ‘resistance’, but here it is a combination of chosen resistance, like sin, and unintentional resistance, like bad habits or worthless activities that fritter away our time and energy. Either way, he suggests discarding them in order to more effectively run our race, the race of life. And, in a very real sense, doing this is all the more meaningful as we approach the season of Lent.