‘What do you want me to do for you?…’ (Mark 10:51)
If our Lord was to speak to you today and ask you this question – what would your answer be?
‘I am the Lord and there is no other; apart from me there is no God…’ (Isaiah 45:5)
In Old Testament times there were many cultures and societies that worship a whole host of different ‘gods’, as there still is today. As Christians we can identify with this verse from Isaiah and say that we believe it to be true within our hearts. Yet still we have to be wary because the reality is that even for those who would make such a profession there are many other ‘gods’ that still seek to entice us away from our Lord today. Wealth, power, status, influence – I could go on. In our world today we are told that the acquisition or attainment of these is all we need. Yet even if we had all of these, and more, in abundance in our life but did not know our Lord, we would have and be nothing.
‘Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another…’ (1 John 4:11)
Love is one of the key themes in this pastoral letter and in a sense what the author is saying here is that one the prime ways that we can demonstrate to others that we are Christians, is to love one another as God has loved us. It sounds simple and straightforward – and it is. Yet just pause for a second and consider how great God’s love for us was – and is – that He would give up His Son for us in the ultimate sacrifice. We may not be called upon to make a similar sacrifice, but what are we willing to give up in our love of God and of others – and is there anything preventing us from loving as we should?
‘…what must we do to do the works God requires…’ (John 6:28)
All too often, sometimes without realising it, we get caught up with thinking that we somehow have to do something to earn our salvation, that it is somehow dependent on how hard we try or how well we succeed in ‘working for God’. Not so. In answer to this question that was asked of Him, Jesus simply replied. ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent…’ (John 6:29).
There is absolutely nothing we can do to earn salvation, it comes to us through the Grace of God offered through His loving Son – all we need do is believe in Him and accept Him as our Saviour. However, if we truly do this, if we truly accept Christ into our hearts and allow His Spirit to move within us and transform us from within, then we will find ourselves working in His name, using the gifts and talents He has given us to play our part in the building up of His Kingdom.
What we do in God’s name doesn’t earn us salvation, rather it shows that through faith in Jesus Christ, we have been saved. Amen…
‘I no longer call you servants…Instead I have called you friends…’ (John 15:15)
What does it mean to be a friend to someone? Is it possible that one person’s idea of friendship might be different from another person’s idea of friendship? I suspect that for most people a friend is a companion, someone in whom they can place their trust, someone on whom they can depend, someone with whom they can share both the happiest moments in life and the saddest moments in life. Yet whilst this may be the case, the sad and harsh reality is that sometimes, even close friends can let us down.
In Jesus, however, we have a friend who will never let us down. Yes He is our Lord and Saviour, yes, He is the Son of the Living God – but He is also our Friend. Now just pause for a moment to reflect on that! Jesus is our friend, the one in whom we can place all our trust, faith, hope and joy and the One who will never let us down.
‘To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable…’’ (Luke 18:9-15)
There seems little doubt that in terms of the law the Pharisee did all that was expected of him, however, the real question he should have perhaps been asking himself was not how he compared to the tax-collector who stood close by, but rather how He compared to God!
Prayer is not about coming before God to tell Him how good we are, it’s about giving thanks to the Lord for all He has given us and done for us, about acknowledging our own faults and failings and seeking His forgiveness and about bringing the needs of others before Him. The Pharisee was interested in one person and one person only – himself. In contrast the tax-collector is only too aware of his faults and his need for God’s mercy and so comes before Him as he should – and we would do well to model our prayer life, not on the Pharisee, but on the tax-collector.
Following the latest Scottish Government update this week there is the possibility that we may be able to open our churches for Easter Sunday, which falls on the 4th of April. This has yet to be confirmed and is subject to any developments that may occur in the coming few weeks. However, if we are allowed open, not only will the same restrictions as before apply – maintaining social distancing, wearing of face masks, no singing etc. – but we will be subject to all Tier 4 restrictions, which means we will only be permitted to allow 20 people in total into our churches and that number will include the minister, organist/pianist and duty elders. In view of these restrictions I have asked both Kirk Sessions to consider how they wish to proceed if this permission is granted. Once we get a final decision from the Scottish Government and the Church of Scotland, and once both Sessions have considered how they wish to proceed, we will of course let you know as soon as possible, here through the website, and also via any means we can think of.
‘Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray…’’ (Luke 18:1-8)
This parable is similar to the one about the friend at midnight in Matthew’s Gospel and like that one it seeks not to compare God to the unjust judge but rather to contrast Him to such a person. Similarly the lesson is essentially the same. We should never weary of prayer, however, we need to remember that only God sees the whole picture and the whole of time and only God ultimately knows what is best for us. Therefore our prayers may not always be answered when or in the manner we want them to – but we should never be discouraged in our prayer life, rather we should put our faith and trust in our Lord who knows what’s best for us.
‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen…’’ (Luke 16:19-31)
This parable teaches us a very important lesson that we can easily forget. All too often in life, when certain allegations or claims are made against us, our simple defence is, ‘no, not me, I didn’t do anything…’ and maybe in most circumstances such a defence is enough and will exonerate us from any wrong doing. However, sometimes saying we did nothing wrong is not enough because, quite simply, sometimes doing nothing is not enough.
The rich man in this parable said nothing against Lazarus, he didn’t tell him to move away from his gate and had no objections to him eating whatever fell his way. He wasn’t overtly cruel in any way – he wasn’t anything! And that was his sin. Every single day he passed Lazarus he saw his suffering and need and did nothing about it. He did nothing wrong – he did nothing!
‘Jesus continued, ‘There was a man who had two sons…’’ (Luke 15:11-32)
The parable of the lost son is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible and is, in the view of many, one of the greatest short stories ever told. In general terms we follow on from the previous, shorter stories, where we have this wonderful image of God seeking out those who are lost and then rejoicing when they are found and saved. But as we delve deeper into the content, and especially into the characters in the story, there is so much that we can learn from these verses. Many questions can be asked about the behaviour and actions of both sons and about their attitude to life and their Father – and many sermons could and have been written on these verses. But perhaps today we can just reflect on two. If we are completely honest with ourselves, which of these two sons would we most identify with – and why might that be? Which son was ‘more lost’?