here goes.....
Lent 5 Lerwick 2013
Yr C
Today it all becomes a little more personal. God
is declaring in the Old Testament reading that he is about to do something new,
he tells us that we should not remember the former things for something new
(and by definition new) is going to begin.
I wonder what it is like to held secure and then
to be let free. I wonder what it must feel like to be held in prison and then
to be released?
It is perhaps no wonder that prisoners find this
moment quite daunting and scary. How will we manage, will we make a mess of it
over again as we slip back so effortlessly into the old ways, the ways we know.
Today Passiontide begins, we begin to face the
cross face to face and realise our own part in it. Our own part in the
suffering, not just of Christ, but even of ourselves.
Is God about to do something new, can he make
something new happen in us, or are we going to slip back into the ways we are
so familiar with?
There is little doubt that the Olympics last year
inspired many of us. The tenacity and courage of the athletes to enter the
games alone never mind to succeed and win medals was immense. We heard stories
of a lifetime of dedication and perseverance. It is no wonder that Paul uses a
sporting analogy, when he is talking about the efforts needed to be a believer,
the efforts he says are needed to stand alongside Christ in his sufferings so
that we can also share the resurrection. It was a life and death scenario for
him.
Paul speaks of pressing on to make it his own…. It
is a single minded approach, a focused and solitary task. But also a costly
journey.
The gospel for today takes us back to the home of
Mary and Martha. Mary once again shows us the way as I silence the room is
filled with the fragrance of the simple act of contemplation. Like Mary and
Martha today we seem to have a choice. We can busy ourselves or we can be
still. It comes natural to be busy, but less natural to be still. Our praying
can be similar, we can even busy ourselves in prayer and miss the object of the
desire completely.
Soren Kierkegaard wrote about prayer in these
words “Prayer does not change God, it changes the person who prays” yet our
attitude has so long been that we are trying to gain the attention of God when
we are praying. We rarely see it as
silence and waiting. As gazing and being held.
We see it in the life of Jesus frequently, and it
was reflected in the early years with many seeking solitude in the desert,
being with God in silence and expecting something new to happen was what the
life of prayer was all about.
It is surprising that we habitually react as if
being busy is the right choice.
Stephen Cherry has highlighted this reaction this
lent by urging the church to react against the need to proclaim business as the
good way. He has challenged many to re think their attitude to living as if it
was better to be able to prove that every moment of a working day was crammed
with activity.
We are invited to be still in the presence of God,
to hear God speaking in the silence of our lives, but we give him little
opportunity, as we busy him out or talk over him.
Let us be more still
