Zetland Park Methodist Church Pastoral Letters
10 April 2011
"You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life" John 5 vv 39 - 40
We come to the end of our 'Reflections' for Lent 2011 with the inevitable challenge from the very lips of Jesus Himself. The words are damning in their context and even more damning when we take them to our own hearts, for they suggest, and suggest very forcibly to me that what we are REALLY doing is READING Scripture but not STUDYING it …
The implication being, as I seek to interpret it, we know the bits which comfort, but as for the others, we circumnavigate them with great aplomb. Our Bible Study groups, at whatever venue you choose to go, are very meagerly supported, and when the call goes up, 'Why isn't the Church growing?' we strongly; quickly and with humility, need to look to ourselves. For surely, if we are unaware of what the Lord requires of us, then how can we implement His will in this part of His Kingdom?
The argument about leisure time; family and the rest will not wash at the 'pearly gates', the question will remain, 'you have read the Word, why don't you both understand and implement the Kingdom goal?'
The Cross remains more than JUST a symbol; it is A STARK REMINDER of God's love and generosity: but do we FULLY understand it?
I am fully aware that there will many who will forgo the events of the forthcoming HOLY WEEK and skip from one 'celebration to another'. Is this all our faith is to us … Celebration with no foundation?
The 'faithful few' will be there, and the majority will expect things to continue unabated, with none or little demand on time, space, commitment or energy, but when the cry goes up, 'We may have to close …' I take stark comfort from the facts that Jesus hit many a brick wall in His ministry, but those lessons have been recorded so that, surely, we can avoid them in the future, if not now!
There's anxiety: challenge; death and disruption ahead…