St Luke’s View

Matthew 6.1-6; 16-21

Romans 8.12-17

It is a staple of reality TV and it’s the gruelling military course. Usually the series starts with interviews with the young hopefuls. It then follows them through various hurdles as they either fall by the way side or learn to fly, command a submarine, become a clearance diver or Royal Marine commando.  And the cliché end is seeing a handful who have braved endless privations gain their wings, badge or Green Beret. The lesson is always clear – only those that preserve win what they covet the most.

Well we say we have nothing like that in religion. But that isn’t true. Jews fast during Passover and Muslims do so during Ramadan. And we, well we have the ancient tradition of lent.

 Because 20 centuries ago, Lent was the primary season for the newly formed communities across the Roman Empire. And it led up to the great Easter vigil service that lasted from sunset to sunrise. Now this included the sacrament of baptism for new believers. A sacrament that no recruit would have seen – for in the early church the first baptism you ever saw was your own. Not surprisingly for those preparing to enter fully into the church and its promised salvation, lent was a time of intense personal preparation.

And at the heart of this profound 40 days of tests, trails and struggles was the concept of leaving behind all of the things of this world that got in the way of their relationship with God.  

So today’s text from Matthew would have spoken clearly to them. For their preparations of fasting, praying and alms giving would not have been in order to be seen by others. In fact, in those early centuries would have been positively dangerous being seen by other. Rather they were striving throughout to empty ourselves. For above all things they desired to be filled by God in Christ. As a result any privations suffered were not causes of misery but inspired by the joyful anticipation of what would soon be won.

 I am sure you have had the experience in finding yourself in the kitchen and can’t remember why your there. Certainly, we all know the times when we have read a page of a book and can’t recall anything about it. Worse still is when we arrive at the shops and don’t remember anything about the drive from home.

Well, we all can get that way in a multitude of activities we do regularly. In fact, we can even go into auto-pilot in our spiritual life. Prayers said by rote, bibles read hurriedly and talks listened too with only half an ear.

Well, thinking of our Christian forebears and what they willingly endured at this time of year, what else can we hope for than this Easter being different?

Let us then prepare ourselves as of old to win the glorious joy of new life in who has newly risen. Indeed this lent, let us journey back to God.

 And we start that walk to our crucifixion and resurrection by doing a bit of inner examination. For as Socrates said the life not examined is not worth living. That means getting down and dirty and doing a spiritual ‘green beret’ course. It means honestly looking at all of the frills and distractions we allow ourselves to be involved with.  It means purging ourselves of all the fears, failures and false desires with as much courage and dignity we can muster. It means fighting through to rediscover the basics of what it means to be Christian. . It means once more purely relying on God’s love and mercy to fill us, to complete us and to save us.

Now, of course, these privations will be painful and there will be no badge of tin or beret of cloth at the end. Yet we do have a coveted prize in sight. For Easter well prepared for wins us the very peace, light and life in Christ that only our distracted self prevents.  

He’s looking to hear your views!

Dear Friends

I don’t know about you but I am thoroughly fed up with this cold weather.  In fact, it is hard to believe that Spring will ever come with its promise of, hopefully, a glorious summer. Yet the year is moving forward and seeds beneath our feet are starting to feel new life.

 This is also undoubtedly true of the Kingdom of God.  Yet with all that is happening in the world, it as if Christ’s plan for this sometimes bleak planet is locked in permafrost.  Moreover, it appears that all our prayers, acts of kindness and works of devotion will never ever break through stony ground and germinate into the ‘green shots’ at Heaven’s gate.

However, such a sense of wintry despondency forgets the story of Mount Grace Priory in North Yorkshire. Now, it had a herb patch that was tended for centuries by the Monks and which provided dyes for cloth and mullein for Candles. But, in the 16^th, Century, this monastery was closed down during the English Reformation of Henry VIII.  Needless to say, the herb garden too went into disuse.

But a few years ago, archaeologists started to excavate that self-same herb patch. The result was that seeds that had lain dormant for hundreds of years felt the sun again and started to grow. So today, some of these very ancient plants stand 6 feet tall providing their gifts once more to changed and better world.

Therefore, we should never despair that even the smallest seed sown in the name of Jesus will ever flower and bear fruit. Because as a newspaper article entitled ‘What small things will I do’ once pointed out:

The smallest crust may save a human life;

The smallest act may lead to human strife;

The smallest touch may cause the body pain;

The smallest speak may fire a field of grain;

The smallest deed may tell the truly brave;

The smallest skill may serve a life to save;

The smallest drop to the thirsty may relieve;

The slightest shock may make a heart to grieve.

Nought is so small that it may not contain

The rose of pleasure or the thorn of pain.

May you walk into the Spring with Christ,

Graham