A Matter of Will

“Who’s Will?” some will ask.  If it were the school sports day, and Will had just won the sack race, we might hear a proud mum shout, “It’s my Will!”  But no, that’s the wrong question.  It’s actually, “Whose will?”

When it comes to living life here on earth, we often think that the ‘the will of the people’ should be paramount.  However, different people want different things and, quite apart from any difficulty in determining ‘the will of the people’, there will inevitably be a sizeable minority who are disappointed with the outcome.  If this minority includes a very outspoken or physically expressive component, public outcry might result, leading in extreme cases to violence.

So it would be good to have a higher power, one with the authority to overrule such disagreements about the best way to live.  What better power than God’s will?  We don’t call Him God Almighty for nothing, after all!  But there’s a snag.

I confess that I was sometimes not a nice child.  With no siblings to compete with, I was used to having everything my way and, faced with any parental objection, I would make a fuss and, as I grew up, arguments followed.  Thus, I didn’t have an easy relationship with my father, but since his death almost thirty years ago, I’ve come to respect him and understand his point of view. 

One expression dad often used to end such confrontations was, “Have it your way; you’ll live the longer!”  He could see that it was better to maintain some kind of relationship than to win the argument.  It may not have been his intention, but he was following divine example here.  Instead of imposing His will upon us, God gives us free will.  We can decide how to live our lives, and we have to discover for ourselves that the best way is God’s way, i.e. to follow God’s will. 

This is one of many lines of thought that have focussed my reading in the early chapters of Mark’s Gospel recently; Mark 1:40-41 may be helpful here.  The leper appealed to Jesus’ will, and we’re told that, in response, He was ‘moved with compassion’.  One writer has suggested that the original word here indicates a close and powerful emotion such as between a nursing mother and her baby.  If so, it certainly emphasises the nature of God’s love for us, and how intently He wants the best for us.

The mother in my sports day illustration at the beginning of this piece might have said, ‘my Bill’; let’s play on that pun a bit more.  Imagine you’re out for a meal with friends; at the end of the evening, there’s an exchange about who’s going to pay the bill.  Think how proud you would be if you were to say ‘I’ll pay’ ... and they let you.  That’s how much God loves us.  It’s His will to pay the bill ... in fact, He has already done so, with Jesus’ life on the Cross!

Too Fast for my Own Good?

Having just retired after nearly fourteen years driving up and down this fair land of ours, I’ve exchanged my (trusty but very tired!) van for a small car.  I chose one that is said to be very economical, and has the same dashboard configuration and engine capacity as the vans I’ve driven for the last ten years, so I feel completely at home behind the wheel.  However, although small and diesel-powered, its description of ‘Sport’ is not misplaced: its acceleration is something to be respected!

So I’m reminded of an article that I wrote some years ago for publication in a trade magazine, in which I advocated the complete abolition of speed limits on our roads!  With freedom, I suggested, must come responsibility, and I put forward the idea that the resources presently used in speed limit enforcement should be re-deployed to prosecute severely those who drive carelessly or dangerously.

You are probably wondering how these thoughts of my personal history and present circumstances fulfil the obligatory link between everyday life and our Christian Faith.  The place of driving and speed in modern life is obvious; perhaps the laws that lie behind the speed limits on our roads are too readily dismissed from our consideration.  In his letter to the Romans, St Paul wrote about the Jewish Law, and our freedom from it through the death and resurrection of Jesus (Rom. 7:1-6).  Re-reading it recently, I was heartened to find that my views on speed limits, and the restrictions they place on our behaviour and on our freedom to enjoy the open road, seem to be in harmony with the spirit of these verses.

If my suggestion of abolishing speed limits were implemented, we would have the same freedom as the woman whose husband died (v.3) or that from the restrictions of the Old Testament laws that Christians enjoy as a result of the death of Christ on the Cross (v.6).  But just as my proposal carried with it a responsibility to behave sensibly on the roads, so the freedom that we have from the Law also carries responsibility.  In this case, it carries a duty to serve God in the freedom of His Holy Spirit alive within us.

I have to appreciate that reform on the scale of my proposals is not just unlikely but virtually unthinkable.  In the meantime, I make every effort to keep to the legal limits.  Sometimes this is easy; at other times I find I am very much the ‘odd one out’, as those around me apply their own interpretation of what ‘30 mph’ means in reality.  Any mental strain caused by keeping to the limit in the path of others who would prefer not to do so, is eased a little as I recall Jesus’ teaching recorded by St Matthew: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.” (Mt. 22:21).

My prayer is that my life also fulfils the other half of that instruction!