Christmas Night/Christmas Day +++ Rejoice!

Psalm 98│Isaiah 52.7-10│Hebrews 1.1-12│John 1.1-14

 

Rejoice!

 

The wait is over. Christmas is here and we rejoice. We celebrate Jesus, ‘the Lord saves’. Immanuel ‘God with us’. God became one of us to enter fully into life, suffering and death to open the way of glory. Light shone in the darkness and the darkness could not grasp it and destroy it.

 

However, sometimes we struggle to rejoice at Christmas. Our lives can feel like ‘Groundhog Day’, a movie where a man (played by Bill Murray) relives a day time and time again, till he finally finds a way forward (a hopeful story!). Christmas can feel that way. ‘Here we go again….’

 

There is a way forward. A way out. We can celebrate ‘hope fulfilled’. Besides just celebrating what God did in the past, we can rejoice in what He will do. After centuries of prophetic waiting, God did what he promised. He will do it again. Although human history can feel like a very long Advent (waiting for God’s final reckoning - our Psalm 98 rejoices in that foresight!), at Christmas, we celebrate God is faithful. We can take God at his word. God will complete the work he has begun. The ultimate Christmas and the ultimate Easter all rolled into one will come. Ultimate joy and victory after the longest wait.

 

……and all the ends of the earth shall see

   the salvation of our God. (Isaiah 52.10b)

 

Paul Vrolijk

Image: 'Christmas at the Annunciation Church in Nazareth 1965/12/24.  By Photographer: Israel Press and Photo Agency (I.P.P.A.) / Dan Hadani collection, National Library of Israel / CC BY 4.0, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95594862

Christmas Eve +++ King Messiah

 

Psalm 45│Nahum 1│Revelation1.1-8│Matthew 23.13-28

Psaumes 45|Nahum 1|Apocalypse 1.1-8 |Matthieu 23.13-28

 

King Messiah

The readings for Christmas Eve can seem a bit puzzling. Contrary to expectation, we find no baby in manger, no virgin mother, no watchful Joseph, no shepherds, no ox, no ass, not even one little lamb. Instead, these readings are a series of declarations of power and looming destruction.

It begins with Nahum’s prophecy of doom over the Assyrian capital, Nineveh, the source of such bitter cruelty and destruction to the Israelites. Nineveh will be destroyed, at once, with complete destruction, never to rise again (1.8–9).

Then comes Psalm 45, a vision of the conquering Messiah, of whom it is said, Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever (v.6), who rides forth, girt with sword (v.3) to destroy his enemies as his sharp arrows pierce their hearts (v.5).

Then, in Matthew 23, that same Messiah, the Lord Jesus, now walking in the flesh in Jerusalem, prophesies woes, rebuke, destruction, and Gehenna in the faces of those hate him, that is, to the scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem.

Finally, in Revelation 1.1–8, we read of the same Messiah’s coming again on the clouds of heaven, when ‘all peoples on earth will mourn because of him’.

So why these four fierce readings for Christmas Eve? Why not something altogether more Christmassy? Surely it is because the one who came forth in Bethlehem is none other than the King Messiah, the mighty God, Jehovah of hosts, going forth to conquer. He was not born a baby to remain a baby, but to be King of kings and Lord of lords, to requite, by overwhelming force, the prince of evil and his servants, to make them like a fiery furnace on the day of his appearing, when he will come to take his righteous throne. The one born at Bethlehem was born to conquer.

And it is your majesty! Succeed! Ride forth for the sake of truth and humble justice, and let your right hand teach you fearful deeds. (Ps. 45.4)

David Mitchell

Image: 'Messiah by Rubio Milan. From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58021 [retrieved December 4, 2021]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rubio2d/27923652250.

Be a humble servant

 

Psalm 130│Malachi3.13-4.6│2 Peter 3│Matthew23.1-12

Psaumes 130 |Michée 3.13-4.6 |2 Pierre 3 |Matthieu 23.1-12

Be a humble servant

 

This is one of those passages that is so familiar it can just bounce off us when we read it. We might have to sit with it for a while to feel the significance it holds for us. Jesus is talking about the Pharisees and their hypocrisy. While acting holy, they exploit others and do not put into action the principles that they preach. Verse 5 says Everything they do is done for people to see …

Few of us are ‘Teachers of the law’ (or the modern-day equivalent), so it can be easy to hold the accusation in this verse at a distance. But surely it applies to each of us more frequently than we would like to admit. We are all experts at putting on a show, at creating an image of ourselves for others that doesn’t match the reality of all our failures, doubts and weaknesses. The way we retell events to cast ourselves in a better light, the practiced ease with which we let blame and responsibility for mishaps fall on others rather than ourselves, the care we take with what our social media posts show about us … - how often we give in to the desire to be seen as being in control, being good, being right.

Thought no. 1 - This needs to stop. The Nativity is all about humility – God of the universe taking flesh in the form of a human baby, in a poor family, in an oppressed nation. Where is the humility in our own lives?

Thought no. 2 - If we can face just how far we are from being humble as Jesus demands, then maybe we can be more compassionate to others when they fail too.

Thought no. 3 - what change in our lives, in our relationships, perhaps even in the world, might be possible if we could stop trying to be right, and let God be right instead? Let’s pray about this today.

Mags Bird

Image; 'Christ Teaches Humility by Lauder, Robert Scott, 1803-1869.   From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55623 [retrieved December 4, 2021]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_Teacheth_Humility.jpg.

Who do you look up to? │Qui admirez-vous ?

 Psalm124│Malachi 2.17-3.12│2 Peter 2.4-22│Matthew 19.16-30

 Psaumes 124|Michée 2.17-3.12 |2 Pierre 2.4-22 |Matthieu 19.16-30

Who do you look up to? │Qui admirez-vous ?

In Old Testament times it was common to look up to and admire rich people. It was believed that riches and prosperity were a sign of God’s blessing – and therefore someone who was rich must be extra especially righteous and holy if God had chosen them for such a special favour.

 

The Rich Young Ruler in our Gospel passage is a splendid example of the Old Testament thinking. He is rich, he is a ruler and if we are to believe his proud boast he has led a spotless life. What’s not to like? Won’t Jesus praise him for being so righteous? No, He completely takes the wind out of the young man’s sails. Rather than saying that the rich must have earned a special relationship with God because of their good deeds, he says to His disciples ‘How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!’ We live in a society where the amassing of possessions, always wanting more and more and the latest of everything is seen as the ultimate goal in life.

 

Jesus teaches that there is a danger in riches. In the Sermon on the Mount he said that we should store up treasure in heaven, not on earth. John Wesley famously urged his followers to ‘work as hard as you can to earn as much as you can to give away all that you can.’ 

 

Who do you look up to? Would Jesus admire them too? And is your heart devoted to earthly treasure or heavenly?

 

***************************************************************************************

 

À l'époque de l'Ancien Testament, il était courant d'admirer les riches. On croyait que la richesse et la prospérité étaient un signe de la bénédiction de Dieu - et donc quelqu'un qui était riche devait être particulièrement juste et saint si Dieu l'avait choisi pour une telle faveur spéciale.

 

Le Jeune Dirigeant Riche dans notre passage évangélique est un magnifique exemple de la pensée de l'Ancien Testament. Il est riche, c'est un dirigeant et si l'on en croit sa vantardise, il a mené une vie sans tache. Qu'est-ce qu'il ne faut pas aimer ? Jésus ne le louera-t-il pas d'être si juste ? Non, il coupe complètement le vent dans les voiles du jeune homme. Plutôt que de dire que les riches doivent avoir gagné une relation spéciale avec Dieu à cause de leurs bonnes actions, il dit à ses disciples « Comme il est difficile pour les riches d'entrer dans le royaume de Dieu ! » Nous vivons dans une société où l'accumulation de biens, le désir de toujours plus et le dernier de tout est considéré comme le but ultime de la vie.

 

Jésus enseigne qu'il y a un danger dans les richesses. Dans le Sermon sur la montagne, il a dit que nous devrions accumuler des trésors dans le ciel, pas sur la terre. John Wesley a exhorté ses partisans à « travailler aussi dur que possible pour gagner autant que possible pour donner tout ce que vous pouvez ».

 

Qui admirez-vous ? Jésus les admirerait-il aussi ? Et votre cœur est-il voué au trésor terrestre ou céleste ?

 

David Fieldsend

Image: 'Heinrich Hofmann, "Christ and the Rich Young Ruler", 1889

Purchased by John D Rockefeller Jr, now residing at Riverside Church, New York, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14265296

Let the little children come to me

 Psalm 121│Malachi 2.1-16│2 Peter1.16-23│Matthew19.13-15

Psaumes 121 |Michée 2.1-16 |2 Pierre 1.1-16 | Matthieu 19.13-15

 

Let the little children come to me

 

Psalm 121 is one of the only two psalms (the other is 23!) which I can admit I know almost by heart, and that’s largely because both are short and memorably set to music in the Scottish metrical psalter.  You can listen to it here: https://youtu.be/RpuuE26BpCs. With its simple message enjoining us to put a child-like trust in the Lord it speaks directly to our fundamental need for reassurance, in all times and in all places, and is probably my favourite.

 

I think it was for this reason I suggested it to my mother and grandmother that we have it as a hymn at my grandfather’s funeral.  He had not had an easy life, being either orphaned or from a broken home in Edwardian England (he never spoke about it); he ended up in prison before his eighteenth birthday and upon release in early 1914 found employment with probably the only organisation that would accept him – the British Army…in which he served for three years until he was wounded and taken prisoner at Passchendaele.  He had a leg amputated in a German hospital before being sent home in a prisoner exchange. 

 

Life for a barely literate, one-legged ex-soldier in the 1930’s Depression cannot have been easy, yet he came through it all as one of the loveliest men I have ever met, married, widowed, re-married happily with children and grandchildren whom he adored and who adored him.  Small children in particular, who recognised a kindred spirit, and, as todays Gospel reminds us, the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.

 

 

In memoriam, Arthur X. Clay, 1896-1979

 

Levez les yeux vers les collines et faites confiance au Seigneur.

 

Carol de Lusignan

Image: Private. Used with permission from Carol de Lusignan.

 

Privilege and responsibility

 

Psalm46│Malachi 1.1,6-14│2 Peter 1.1-15│Matthew 19.1-12

Psaumes 46 |Michée 1.1,6-14|2 Pierre1.1-15|Matthieu 19.1-12

 

Privilege and responsibility

 

Living a Christian life is one of both great privilege and great responsibility. We are reminded of this equally empowering and sobering lesson in 2 Peter 1:1-15, where Peter calls on us not only to acknowledge our calling to God, but to confirm it as well.

At this time of year we remember the gift that the Lord has bestowed upon us: his son, Jesus Christ, born to free us from sin. It can be easy to fall into complacency once we grasp the gravity of this gift; why bother with morality and righteousness when, at the end of the day, we are saved? Is Jesus not the answer to all our problems – the light sent down from Heaven to bring us peace?

Yes, he is – and it is precisely because of his presence and love that we have a responsibility to live the life to which he has called us. Peter implores us to live with goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love. For without these things, he says, we cannot fully understand – let alone embody – what Jesus has done for us and the stewards he has empowered us to become.

The cynical among us – and yes, criticism is welcome – will point out that Peter does not specifically attribute rejection from God’s kingdom to the absence of the qualities mentioned above. Maybe I am naïve, but I don’t think we need an ultimatum to be coerced into a life based on goodness and love. Goodness, in its purest form, expects nothing in return.

The birth of our Saviour is testament to the power of good over evil, especially when we inspire others to live with love for God and each other. To fully appreciate the privilege we have been gifted, we have a responsibility to reproduce acts of kindness, mutual affection, and love towards people and planet.

By confirming this responsibility – and with enough practice – we may even start to see glimpses of God’s eternal kingdom right here with us.

Benjamin Jance IV

Image:'A Potter in Bangalore, India' By Muhammad Mahdi Karim - Own work, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36687161

Canticle: Magnificat (Luke 1.46-55) │Micah 5.2-5a│Hebrews 10.5-10│Luke 1.39-45

le Cantique: Magnificat (Luc1.46-55) │ Michée 5.2-5a│ Hébreux 10.5-10│Luc 1.39-45

 

La grâce

La plupart d’entre-nous pensons que si nous ne faisons rien, Dieu ne va rien faire. C’est loin d’être la vérité car, d’éternité en éternité notre Dieu est un Dieu d’amour. Il a toujours initié la relation entre nous et lui. Dans la nouvelle alliance, il nous a donné le plus beau cadeau de tous les temps qui n’est autre que son Fils unique. En Jésus, l’homme se repose de ses œuvres car nous n’avons plus besoin du souverain sacrificateur pour présenter nos sacrifices et nos offrandes. Jésus Christ, le Souverain sacrificateur est lui-même le sacrifice ultime. Les sacrifices couvraient les péchés mais n’enlevaient pas le péché. On se repose parce que l’œuvre de Dieu est parfaite. Au verset 7 de l’épître aux Hébreux, Jésus dit : « Voici, je viens pour faire, ô Dieu, ta volonté. » Au verset 9 de nouveau, il dit : « Voici, je viens pour faire ta volonté. Il abolit ainsi la première chose pour établir la seconde. » La première chose, représente la loi. La loi exige des œuvres ; fais le bien et tu auras une récompense. La seconde représente la grâce. La grâce est le fait de recevoir ce que nous ne méritons pas. C’était la volonté de Dieu de nous envoyer Jésus. C’est au travers de l’œuvre de Jésus à la croix que nous sommes sauvés. Aujourd’hui, nous avons le Saint Esprit qui rend témoignage à notre esprit que nous sommes enfants de Dieu (Romains 8 :16). Puissions-nous tressaillir d’allégresse tout comme Jean-Baptiste car un Saveur nous a été donné en Jésus Christ.

 

Eric Sibomana

Image:'Mary visits Elizabeth, 1873 By Unknown author - The story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59736098

Can we forgive?

 Psalm 71│Zephaniah3.14-20│Jude│Matthew 18.21-35

Psaumes 71|Sophonie 3.14-20 |Jude |Matthieu 18.21-35

 

Can we forgive?

When I think of forgiveness or the capacity to forgive, I’m always reminded of the very brave people – parents/relatives/citizens - of Northern Ireland that were featured in a news item I picked up once. It was still the time of the ‘troubles’ in that part of the world and a family had had their child taken from them by a bomb that had killed him/her. The first words the family appeared to say in the news item were ‘we forgive the perpetrators’. I sort of understood that they were Christian believers, and that’s all I remember.

 

Forgiveness ‘from the heart’ (as urged in the passage we have before us today, at the end) is so hard. We see in this passage that a ‘master’, faced with what seems to be a large amount owed by one of his servants, not only laid aside the servant’s offer to pay back the debt in due course, but cancelled the debt instead. The master ‘took pity’ on the servant, his compassion welling up to dispel any resentment he might have felt that the servant owed him money and had not made provision for paying it back.

 

Later in the passage we see something different. Here, we see what happens when other gods in our lives get in the way of being able to show heart-felt forgiveness. The same servant – startlingly – turns on a fellow-servant and refuses to forgive a much smaller debt, even though he had been on the receiving end of such generosity previously. The servant’s other god was money, which appeared to be suddenly all-consuming when he faced his fellow- servant and that person’s debt. What an about-turn! We learn that the unforgiving servant was eventually handed to jailors and tortured.

 

I conclude from this that forgiveness comes with a positive choice to forgive, yes, but also through lives dedicated to seeking God’s ways so that our default reaction is indeed godly and not worldly. I don’t believe God sets out to punish us for going wrong, but if we do make poor choices then we run the risk of it backfiring on us in other areas of our lives later. Forgiveness is liberating and unforgiveness is constraining – although sometimes the latter seems the easier option, paradoxically.

 

I pray today that we would all find it in us to act with compassion to those around us who find themselves in a difficult situation, even though they may have wronged us.

 

Voir l’exemple de ce passage de Matthieu qui nous montre le pardon dans des circonstances

difficiles.

 Sue Bird

Image: 'The Unforgiving Servant by JESUS MAFA, 1973  

From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48396 [retrieved December 4, 2021]. Original source: http://www.librairie-emmanuel.fr (contact page: https://www.librairie-emmanuel.fr/contact).

Shout for joy

 

Psalm 98│Zephaniah 3.1-13│2 Thessalonians3│Matthew 18.1-20

Psaumes 98|Sophonie 3.1-13 | 2 Thessaloniens 3 |Matthieu 18.1-20

 

Shout for joy

 

This psalm is about the victorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to rescue and redeem. He came to conquer hearts and claim the nations. Christ is King, not just of Israel, but of all the earth. And so, all the earth is to shout joyfully to the Lord. All the earth is to break forth in song and shout joyfully before the King.

 

At other times in our lives when we felt we needed God’s help, we cried out to God and from heaven He heard our prayer and came and answered and helped us, maybe not always in the way that we thought but He answered, and that is a cause to praise God. If you consider this Psalm to be the cardiograph of a worshipper’s heart, then the amplitude of the heartbeat increases as the Psalmist considers and considers again the marvellous things that God has done.

 

Of course, the most marvellous ‘thing’ God ever did was to visit us on earth. Jesus, by simply showing up on earth, by teaching, touching, suffering, and rising, was and is marvellous. Jesus is the victory of God, and our only sensible response is to praise.

 

Pray today that you will think of the 98^th Psalm and live this day joyfully because the Lord will return, and He will remove all sorrow and sins by His righteous judgments. 

 

Le psaume 98 est une invitation à louer Dieu. C’est un psaume qui raconte l’Évangile victorieuse de Jésus-Christ qui est venu pour conquérir les cœurs. Chaque nation est appelée à l’adorer comme le souverain de l’Univers.

 

Alice Amah

Image: 'Joyful Mountain Landscape by Klee, Paul, 1879-1940. From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55666 [retrieved December 4, 2021]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heitere_Gebirgslandschaft_by_Paul_Klee_1929.jpeg.

What should Christians do against misinformation?

 Psalm76│Zephaniah 1.1-2.3│2 Thessalonians 2│Matthew17.22-27

Psaumes 76|Sophonie 1.1-2,3 |2 Thessaloniens 2 | Matthieu 17.22-27

 

What should Christians do against misinformation?

In 2 Thessalonians 2, we reflect on a topic that is as relevant today as it was at the time: misinformation. At the beginning of the passage, Paul warns Christians about believing deceitful and misguided prophecies (‘Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way’) regarding the coming of Jesus and urges them to set the record straight. Apparently, a misunderstanding of Paul’s teaching (or an incorrect application of it) had caused the Thessalonians to be unsettled and alarmed, thinking that the coming of the Lord had already come and gone. Paul was thus afraid that this misinformation regarding the time of the coming of Christ could also raise doubts on the certainty of the coming itself.

In today's world, we are bombarded with information of all sorts, often discordant, and it's easy to lose sight of what the Lord has taught us and question our Faith, feeling lost in a sea of misguided prophecies and sceptical views. Our role as Christians is not to be blind to incoming news and information, we shouldn't isolate ourselves from the world in fear of being deceived. Our role is instead to question and discern the Truth in communion with one another, supporting each other's faith in the coming of the Lord. A steady faith and an open mind are key against misinformation, both at the times of Thessalonians and today.

Anna De Marchi

Image: 'A sketchnote of an article by Daniel J. Dunleavy and Vincent F. Hendricks "Fast Science, Slow Science: Finding Balance in the Time of COVID-19 and the Age of Misinformation". Dunleavy, Daniel, & Hendricks, Vincent. (2020, September 28). Fast Science, Slow Science: Finding Balance in the Time of COVID-19 and the Age of Misinformation (Version 1). Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4056909

Inspiration from Isaiah

Psalm 75│Isaiah 39│2Thessalonians 1│Matthew 17.14-21

Psaumes 75 |Ésaïe 39 | 2 Thessaloniens1 | Matthieu 17.14-21

 

Lire l‘Ancien Testament

The Old Testament was the only scripture available to the early Christians. Jesus, as he walked to Emmaus with Cleopas and his wife, Mary[1], using the Old Testament showed them the evidence that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. (Luke 24.13-25).

 

I believe that we should not overlook the Old Testament.

 

Prier avant d’agir

 

Hezekiah was a praying man. He had a problem he took it to God. When Assyrian sent a letter of

intent that they were coming, he took the letter to God and God sorted out the mighty invading

army. When he was fatally ill he prayed and God extended his life. He thanked God in prayer that he recovered. He even recommended King Ahaz prayed before battle. Prayer was almost a way of life for him. But here he seems to be so overjoyed to be receiving important guests from Babylon that he completely forgets that God is always with him and rushes around trying to impress his visitors. Unfortunately he does and with dire consequences for his country.

 

I believe that we should not overlook praying in all circumstances

 

Protéger la planète

 

What a relief thought Hezekiah, not in my lifetime. It is easy to ignore problems if they do not affect us personally. But maybe we should not stick our heads in the sand.

 

I believe that we should protect our planet for the generations to come.

 

Jane Brown

Image: 'Supper at Emmaus By Pontormo (1494-1557)   MwHPzvKeSKDjPA at Google Arts & Culture, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13519745

 

---

[1] See, for example, https://artandtheology.org/2017/04/28/the-unnamed-emmaus-disciple-mary-wife-of-cleopas/

 

Lesser Festival for Cross, poet, teacher of the faith, 1591+++ The Cross

 

Psalm 19.7-10│1Kings 3.6-14│1Corinthians 2.1-10│John 14.18-23

Psaumes 19.7-10 |1 Rois 3.6-14|1 Corinthiens 2.1-10|Jean 14.18-23

The Cross

I didn’t know very much about St John of the Cross before I wrote this piece.

One thing that I have learned was that John had a vision of the crucified Jesus which inspired him to draw a picture of Christ on the cross, an image which is still an object of devotion in Avilà in Spain and inspired Dali’s work  ‘Christ of Saint John of the Cross’.  John’s drawing shows the crucifixion from the Father’s point of view; the moment when God’s work of redemption was completed as Jesus cried ‘It is finished’.

In Advent we look forward both to celebrating the birth of Jesus and to his coming again, both of which, seen from the Father’s point of view, are part of the story of ‘God so loved the world’

The cross has a central place in the story of salvation, as the Apostle Paul writes: .

‘For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.’

He chose in his preaching in Corinth, not wisdom and clever speaking but the vulnerability of his crucified Saviour.

‘My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.’

It was the power revealed in the weakness of the crucified incarnate God that Paul chose to glory.    Intelligent language had its place but not above the cross of Christ.

All that is above the cross is the gaze of God himself upon his beloved Son and upon the world for which he was dying.

And in that rejoice, in that we exult and before that image we sing our songs of praise

Those dear tokens of his passion still his dazzling body bears,

cause of endless exultation to his ransomed worshippers:

with what rapture gaze we on those glorious scars!

Je n’ai pas eu la pensée de savoir parmi vous autre chose que Jésus-Christ, et Jésus-Christ crucifié … et ma parole et ma prédication … reposaient …sur une démonstration d’Esprit et de puissance, afin que votre foi soit fondée, non sur la sagesse des hommes, mais sur la puissance de Dieu.

Notre joie et nos chants de louange doivent être centrés avant tout sur la croix de Jésus, par laquelle le Père révèle son amour au monde.

John Wilkinson

Image: Drawing of the Crucifixion by St. John of the Cross, c. 1550 By St. John of the Cross - https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfVeTzVSt1V1sPw4o26ZsxNMZf5vpVoeJXoQ2nekqyKvc2A0bGejPPDqRbI_U_XIBSg6fudghPRL6j3ciqJWVkruwAsjfVBab3PJ1jURik-vJJ0cS89uq2-3VucxsjOPi28KtY3cPkUcA/s1600/drawing-by-st-john-of-the-cross.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16045100

Lesser Festival for Lucy, martyr, 304 +++ God’s help in time of trouble

 Psalm 3│2Chronicles 24.17-21│2 Corinthians 4.6-15│Matthew 10.16-22

Psaumes 3 | 2 Chronicles 24.17-21|2 Corinthinens 4.6-15|Matthieu 10.16-22

 

God’s help in time of trouble

 

God’s Word does not say believers will be exempted from difficulties, sufferings, persecutions, tribulations and the like. Neither does it say we might have trouble, nor that we will never have trouble. It says there will be trouble (Mtt. 10.16-22; John 16.33bc). The Lord’s words are a warning signal which should not be taken lightly.

 

Any of these troubles can strike us at any time, at various levels, in varied ways and can stem from different sources. Throughout the ages, believers have experienced, and are still experiencing some form of persecution. However, there is some good news so believers don’t have to live in a state of despair; we are not alone. The Lord knows all of our struggles. He understands that to live as a true believer in this our troubled world is not evident.

 

Believers will be cast down but will not be conquered. God’s providential hand will control every situation. So all we have to do is to remain grounded in the truth and depend only on His protective power. We have to be very alert so that when we are faced with any adverse circumstance, we will not fall into apostasy.

 

The Lord has promised us His peace in the midst of trouble and when life is tough. So, let’s rest in this wonderful assurance.

 

Dear Lord, we thank You for the promises that give us peace, encouragement and hope. When trouble strikes, please give us a heart of wisdom to lean on You. We pray this in Jesus’ Mighty Name. Amen.

 

Les chrétiens ne sont pas épargnés de difficultés, de souffrances, de persécutions, de tribulations et d’autres désagréments. Quand tout semble noir, tournons les yeux vers l’Eternel. Sa paix est là.

 

Lucy Limunga Fonderson

 

Collect for Lucy: God our redeemer, whose Church was strengthened by the blood of your martyr Lucy: so bind us, in life and death, to Christ’s sacrifice that our lives, broken and offered with his, may carry his death and proclaim his resurrection in the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lucy was honoured in Rome from the sixth century onwards. Her name means ‘light’ and this, together with the extravagant claims of the legends about the circumstances of her martyrdom, make her the saint invoked for those with eye diseases.

Although the detailed account of her death is legend, it is based upon the martyrdom of a young female at Syracuse in 303–4. The Diocletian persecution was intense. Lucy is an example of those who have given their lives for the sake of the gospel, and whose full story has been lost in time.

Extract from Saints on Earth: A biographical companion to Common Worship by John H Darch and Stuart K Burns

Image: 'Altar of St Lucy, table: St Lucy before the Judge by Lorenzo Lotto (1480-1556)-- Self-scanned, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13911987