Joyful Response

Especially after the harsh winter from which we are slowly recovering, it’s easy to think during Lent of the natural world.  The name Lent comes simply from the Old English ‘lenten’, referring to the days getting longer as winter moves into spring.  My abiding memories of Easters past are of daffodils and the occasional walk in the countryside, where the woods and fields show signs of nature’s colour returning.

Isaiah writes of ​​​​​​​the rain and snow coming down from heaven.  ​​​​​​‘[They] do not return,’ he says, ‘but instead water the earth and make it produce and yield crops, and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat.’ (Isaiah 55:10 – Net Bible.)  Check out the rest of that chapter, and you’ll see that its aim is not a lesson in physical and economic geography.  It tells instead of God’s provision, and the great rewards that will come to those who abandon their own (wicked) lifestyle and (sinful) plans, and return to Him (v. 7.)  Nature itself will lead the responding celebrations of joy (vv.12-13.)

Another recollection of a spring walk in the countryside is the early lambs gambolling in the meadows.  Here, too, Isaiah provides a divine perspective and, if your musical background is anything like mine, you have to pinch yourself to remember that it wasn’t Isaiah copying Handel but vice versa, as we read that ‘all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.’  There’s no getting away from the truth of Easter, for the verse continues, ‘and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.’ (Isaiah 53:6 – KJV.)

So, as we gradually appreciate the magnitude of this promise, and the sacrifice it involves, how are we to respond?  My suggestion is this.  Just as in the Old Testament the Israelites were encouraged to pay an eye for an eye, etc. (Exodus 21:24-5,) so we should trade sacrifice for sacrifice.  This idea isn’t an original one.  Look at Romans 12:1 and you’ll see what I mean.  Paul encourages us to offer our bodies ‘as a sacrifice, alive, holy and pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.’  A preacher I heard recently explained that the Greek word that appears here as ‘reasonable’ can also mean ‘logical’; i.e. it is logical that we should respond in this way to the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross to win forgiveness for us from the consequences of our sins.

Having set the thought before you, dear reader, I will now leave it to mature.  Read on in this chapter of Romans, and you will find one of Paul’s many lists of the gifts and attributes of the Christian.  He also offers practical ways in which they may be employed.  Each idea he presents is a possible expression of the Joy which is ours at Easter.

Thankful Response

Life had started to get hard for Joan.  Now in her mid-seventies, she found more and more that she couldn’t do for herself, and it was sometimes quite painful even to walk to the corner shop.  She was very glad to have almost daily visits from Pina.  Pina had arrived in the town several years ago from the Balkans.  Her husband had been killed in the fighting there, and she had sought safety with her two young children.

Pina enjoyed calling on Joan, and would dust and hoover, collect shopping for her, make tea and chat, and she learned much about her adopted country in the process.  Her presence in the house lightened the lonely burden of Joan’s life beyond measure.  Then one day Joan discovered that, in order to make time for these visits, Pina had stopped going to a special class where she had been learning business English and computer skills so that, when the children were old enough, she could get herself a job.

Joan didn’t know how to deal with this news.  She couldn’t understand why Pina should make that sacrifice just to spend time with her.  After all, they had little in common except widowhood, and the circumstances of that condition were totally different for each of them.  Pina occasionally noticed a little awkwardness in Joan’s behaviour that she couldn’t account for.  Joan was far more worried about the situation than this little sign revealed.  Then one day she remembered some clothes that were stored away having been outgrown by her grandchildren.  She passed them to Pina for her youngest.  Although she couldn’t get around very well, Joan still enjoyed cooking, and made all her own cakes.  It was about then that, inspired by Pina’s gratitude for the clothes, she began to make larger batches of buns and biscuits, packing up more than half of them into bags which she passed on to her young friend when she called.

This sort of exchange probably happens here and there across most towns.  Is it just a story of two lonely women, or can we learn something more from it?  Pina gave up something which was important to her in order to provide a lifeline to someone to whom she owed nothing.  From the Manger to the Cross, God did the same for us.  He gave His only-begotten Son to save us from the consequences of our sins.  For her part Joan thought it out and, although she couldn’t replace those lost lessons, by practical gifts she found a way to respond to Pina’s generosity.  We can never hope to deserve God’s love or to repay the sacrifice of the Cross, but we are prompted to respond to these blessings.  We do so by giving our time and skills in service to God through the Church or other charities.  Many people also give a proportion of their income as well - based on the Biblical practice of tithing (see Deuteronomy 14:22).  The Church has a ‘shorthand’ name for this response to God by giving our time, talents and treasure: Stewardship.

When did you last review your response to what God has given you?

Freedom

Hooray!  The snow and ice have gone.  No more time wasted scraping windscreens, clearing paths and coping with winter; we can look forward to spring.  During the quiet period that always follows Christmas in the courier industry, I’ve been watching a number of documentaries about World War II, and my mind has drifted towards the return of demobbed servicemen to their families.  Meanwhile the news programmes have told of the Algerian hostage crisis, the war in Mali and the general problems posed by militant Islamists.

These three thoughts may seem unconnected, but ... we are free now from the extra disciplines forced on us by winter; the returning servicemen were free from the military disciplines needed to defeat the enemy; and, after overturning the Taliban regime, the countries making up the coalition in Afghanistan were similarly free either to bring their forces home or to build on that freedom (in the words of the ISAF Mission statement, “in order to provide a secure environment for sustainable stability that is observable to the population.”)

In each case, this freedom is not only freedom from something; it is also freedom to return to normality, which is sometimes easier said than done.  After six years of war, for example, the necessary re-adjustment to married life was sometimes more than man and wife could stand; after a few months of trying, many formerly happy marriages foundered and became a late casualty of the war. 

Let’s relate these examples to our thoughts in Lent.  The purpose of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was to free mankind from the consequences of our sinfulness.  That freedom is available to everyone, and all we have to do is repent of our sins and accept God’s forgiveness, because the penalty has already been paid by Jesus.  But the same question arises here about the resulting freedom.  Does it just offer a return to what went before?  Surely, Jesus’ wonderful gift has to be more than simply ‘paying off the bill we’ve incurred up to now.’  How far-reaching is the freedom it brings? 

We need to take heed of the warning to be found in the Gospel at Luke 11:24-26.  In its simplest application, we might relate that forgiveness to a particular aspect of our behaviour and allow the Holy Spirit to eliminate that habit from our lives.  This probably creates more time for us: how do we use that time – to do good, or to acquire other bad habits? 

You might like to think about this passage as part of your own spiritual spring-clean this Lent.