Aug 11th

1 Samuel 1     Jeremiah 39     Mark 1     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

This passage is a delightful cameo of the Kingdom of God in the real world.

We see the deep sadness of Hannah at being childless, while her husband’s other wife has children, and taunts her of her “failure”.  She bears it all with simple dignity, and throughout it all she holds on to her faith, continuing to go “up to the House of the Lord”, even though she knows that even there (and maybe especially there) she will face her rival’s taunts as well.  Even Eli the priest accuses her of being drunk as she prays to God.

And yet…..God is there in her suffering and hears her prayer.  She bears a child, the consummation of her hopes, dreams and prayers.  And yet…. she remains faithful to God, dedicating her son, the very object of all her thoughts and dreams over the years, to God.  And God honours that by raising up Samuel, one of his greatest prophets to Israel.

The challenge for us is to show that same faithfulness, regardless of the “headwinds” we face in life, to meet them with the same grace and quiet confidence in God and his faithful provision, and to remember him in both the good and the bad times, because he cares for us in them all.

We know nothing more of Hannah but if each of us were to be as faithful and gracious as her, how different the world would be and how much more God’s Kingdom would be a reality in our world today….There’s our challenge.

(member of the PCC)

Aug 10th

Ruth 3-4     Jeremiah 38     Acts 28     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

Paul finally arrives at Rome after an eventful journey!  However there is no relaxation for him. He takes the initiative and calls the local Jewish leaders together to give his testimony in an encounter that is characterised by a graciousness on both sides.  He would have had every justification for “having a go” at the local Jews as representative of those who had been instrumental in his being in the dangerous position that he was, but instead his sole motivation is to speak with them for “the hope of Israel”.  They in turn respond to him in a similarly open way and the result is a growing dialogue (v23) which goes on over a number of days and as a result of which many were brought to a Christian commitment.  The only jarring note is that some of the Jews “refused to believe”, closing their minds to the truth laid out by Paul.

One has to ask how different the outcome might be had Paul not made the conscious choice to forgive, and to be gracious and open in that situation.  That in turn opened the way for the Jewish leaders to engage with him in a similarly open way.

In contrast, how often do we allow ourselves the luxury of allowing our own feelings, however justifiable they may be, to stand in the way of witnessing to our faith in the way that we should, or to prevent us from deciding to forgive others?  How often do we allow opportunities for witness to pass by as a result?  Let us resolve today that our speech may be seaoned with salt and full of grace.”

(member of the PCC)