Zetland Park Methodist Church Pastoral Letters

Holidays!!

We take a lot of trouble organizing them, and then worry ourselves silly whether in fact we have done the right thing, and can really afford it, in the first place! Holidays!!

The essential ingredient to the year’s flow, but for many that has never been the cause, or has now become such a burden, that any such anticipated break has begun to prove absolutely impossible. Until you are actually in such a situation, it must be extremely difficult to even begin to imagine what those restrictions can place on one’s plans for the future. If we are honest, in our planning we so often come across the “frustration factor” which adds to life’s woes, and can cause so many upsets. I’ve lost count of the number of times I have come across such situations even in my brief eighteen years in ministry, but until and unless you come up against that “brick wall” yourself, you are indeed left very much in the dark as to what folk are really feeling, and then that becomes the very focus of “ministry” --- the seeking to understand without intruding; the grappling with unknown factors without upsetting; the offer of guidance without a hint of patronizing ---- and that is where is just begins.

Yet as we humanly struggle with such deep questions, I have found there is indeed a solution, and that is very close at hand. It is none other than The Word of God.

I’m not saying that there is a solution in the Bible word for word for every problem, but what I am saying is that there is a comfort there which can provide a light at the end of the tunnel, for all that seek that ‘light’.

‘Come into His presence’
Here is that first, tentative step. To ‘come before the Lord’. There is no need for a specific time or indeed place for this to happen. I have found that if I come into that room which is my study and shut the door, that begins the process --- we can, in the main, I believe, all find such a place within our own homes, where we can ‘be with the Lord’. It’s the equivalent of Jesus spending time alone with His Father. We don’t have to fill the time with words or movement, but be challenged to be still in His Presence, and feel His loving arms around.
‘Open your heart to Him’
When you feel that it is right -------- share from your heart, those things which have become a burden: ‘let go, and let God’, is a motto text my eldest daughter cross-stitched for me many years ago, and it remains a mainstay for my day. ‘My burden is light’ said Jesus. In other words, we may still have burdens to carry through the day, but that which we carry will be made easier through the love of Christ. Jesus never said that following Him would be an easy option, but He did promise ‘to be with us always’
‘Find comfort in His Word’
There are so many books and booklets around to guide us through a short, daily portion of Scripture. So of the pithy sayings which commentators supply are there to stimulate our own thoughts and actions. You may not agree with what is being said or suggested, and there are many times I do not, but that in turn sets me off ‘on a journey of exploration’ to find what the Lord is seeking to say to me on that particular day. There will be days when you will find only frustration in obscure passages, and that will annoy, but persevere for there is indeed ‘gold’ in those blessed words.
Receive assurance’
His Word constantly seeks to assure us all, that Jesus knows that we suffer many things, and through many situations. He knows and feels for those burdened by the daily grind; His knows the problems of those who seeks to profess the Faith and are victimized for it; He is aware that those ‘on the margins’ tend to be forgotten ----- to each and all He reaches out in love, compassion and understanding: and that is only the beginning. For the Cross reveals to all who seek to believe that those ‘burdens’ can be nailed forever and replaced with ‘a love that never lets us go’. For through His sacrifice, Jesus offers us hope for a future to which He beckons us all to aim for. He is already there, we are told through The Word. He knows what has been prepared for each and all, and we have the assurance of a rest which is both blessed and eternal.

So, let us simply begin by coming ‘into His Presence’.

Shalom,
Malcolm.
May 2005