[Friday's Devotional] - The Empty Tomb

We reach the final chapter of Journey to the Empty Tomb and I hope it’s been a good insight into our Lent book group and perhaps inspired you to read the book for yourself. The journey to the empty tomb, of course, ends with the resurrection of Jesus on the first Easter morning.

 

We’ve followed Mark’s gospel throughout the week and his is the gospel with the most abrupt ending. Most scholars believe the original gospel ends at 16:8 and that verses 9-20 were a later addition.

 

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.  Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, ‘Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?’  But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.  As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.  ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.  But go, tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”’  Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Mark 16:1-8 [NIV]

 

 

We know that the story did not end there - if the women had continued to live in fear and not told anyone what they’d seen, we would not have Mark’s gospel at all!  Mark 16:9-20 comes with a direct challenge to ‘Go, tell!’  Gooder writes that Mark “issues the clearest invitation to stop now being readers and to start being participants in the narrative.  It invites us to pick up the story and to live out its ending in our own lives… to ‘Go, tell!’”

 

Emma Higgins

[Thursday's Devotional] - The Crucifixion

On Darkness and Light - Paula Gooder

 

In our own moments of deep darkness,

   when despair takes its grip on our souls

   when we feel abandoned and alone

   when the presence of God is at best a dim memory

   and we echo deep within us Jesus’ cry of desolation

   ‘My God, my God why have your forsaken me?’

   then, at the bottom of the pit, when we can sink no more,

May our grip tighten around the knowledge

   that Psalm 22 does not end at verse one

   that Jesus was not alone and the women had never left

   that the light was flickering and hope was stirring

   that the world was about to change forever.

 

In our own moments of deep darkness

   when despair takes its grip on our souls,

May we have the strength to hold on to the assurance

   that beyond darkness there is light

   beyond despair there is hope

   beyond dying there is living

   beyond forsakenness there is, always, the love of God.

 

In our own moments of deep darkness

   may this hope carry us through

   the days, months, and sometimes years

   until the new dawn’s first rays of light

   touch our souls with the warmth of an Easter morning.

 

Emma Higgins

[Wednesday's Devotional] - The Garden of Gethsemane

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’  He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.  ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,’ he said to them. ‘Stay here and keep watch.’  Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him.  ‘Abba, Father,’ he said, ‘everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’
Mark 14:32-36 [NIV]

 

 

Jesus’ distress is obvious in this passage, and it culminates in his prayer in v36. The reference to God as ‘Father’ is important, it is how Jesus has referred to God throughout his life and ministry and it is not known as a name for God until Jesus uses it. We are also invited into this intimacy with God. Jesus asks that God will take the cup away from him, a metaphor for what he is about to face. It’s clear that Jesus did not relish what he was about to do, but was obedient to what God asked of him. God did not give him what he asked, but he does give him the strength he needs to carry on. Gooder reminds us that this is important to remember - God will always answer our prayers, but it may not be in the way we expect.

 

Emma Higgins

[Tuesday's Devotional] - The Last Supper

Paula Gooder writes, “We all know so well the stories surrounding Jesus’ death, and as they are vividly and regularly depicted in art and film there will be few of us who do not have an inner gallery which shows us what those events looked like. Da Vinci, in particular, shapes our imaginings of what the last supper might have been like. It is hard to picture the last supper without having the disciples and Jesus all sitting up along one side of a table, facing in the same direction. Even though we know that it wouldn’t look like that (Mark says explicitly that the disciples were reclining and not sitting up) it is hard to remove its image from our inner gallery. Part of the task of accompanying Jesus devotionally during the last week of his life is the task of repopulating our inner art galleries with new images of what it might have looked and felt like.”

 

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take it; this is my body.’  Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,’ he said to them.  ‘Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.’
Mark 14:22-25 [NIV]

 

 

During this week why not read through one of the gospel accounts of Jesus’ last week and reimagine the scene for yourself?

 

Emma Higgins

[Monday's Devotional] - The Triumphal Entry

This is the last series of devotionals before the Easter break so we’ll be looking together at  the book the Lent book group have been reading, Paula Gooder’s, Journey to the Empty Tomb. This will be a five day series looking at the events during the last week of Jesus’ life.

 

When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.  Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.  Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, ‘Hosanna!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’  ‘Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!’ ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’
Mark 11:1-10 [NIV]

 

 

What do you think about the title ‘triumphal entry’? Do you think it’s ironic, or representative that in God’s kingdom what makes for a triumph is turned upside down?

 

When we reflect on the events that make up Palm Sunday, we might ask ourselves what was different about Jesus on that day?  He was the same as he’d been for the rest of his ministry, so why did the crowds react to him differently and proclaim him as the Messiah?

 

However, once Jesus enters Jerusalem the crowds melt away. Even though they once cried ‘Hosanna’, they are distracted (we don't hear about why) and disappear from the scene. Gooder writes, “we need to recognise that all human nature is fickle, and that we cannot always process or stay with a dawning realisation of truth… This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try but it does offer us a level of forgiveness when we fail.”

 

Have a think today about the things that distract you from Jesus, just like the crowd on Palm Sunday - how can you stay with Jesus?

 

Emma Higgins

[Friday's Devotional] - Lists

My wife is a huge fan of lists, it's how she gets so much done, both herself and through me. She will make herself lists, and she will leave me lists, as all good wives do.  And as all good husbands do, I forget about the list until my last moment, from my estimate of the list, then I do everything in a rush so that when she returns I have both finished the list and look suitably knackered that I hope she might leave me a smaller list next time.  And of course it never works.  You see my wife is incredibly pro-active, all the time, especially through me, whereas I prefer short bursts, rather than a constant steady pace.  However, recently I have realised that when it comes to my walk with God I would really like to become more pro-active, and have been thinking about the practicalities of that.

One such area comes back to lists.  I don't know about you, but quite often when I pray after a quiet time, I realise I have very successfully written a To Do list for God, yet all I expect of myself is to mull over what I have thought about in the week.  No wonder I find I never seem to get anything done for God!  I'm a man, I need my lists, but the grace of God is such that he doesn't leave a list that will be inspected on our next meeting, he simply shows more of himself to us that we might want to be more like him.  

 

While I never admit this to my wife, it would be far too dangerous, sometimes being held accountable to a list of jobs is very helpful, our previous house would have never been done up without them.  So I am currently trying something, but before I finish my times with God and kindly hand him my list of requests in prayer, I am trying to write a list of things I feel he is prompting me to step out in. I expect him to be far better at getting through his list than mine, but maybe I will start to look back, similar to a prayer diary, and see the results of being a pro-active Christian!

 

Tim Holt

[Thursday's Devotional] - What Church is meant to be

Last weekend was the Weekend Away at Home, and it was fantastic.  We had good teaching, good praise, good banter, a Scottish rugby win, but one thing I took away from the weekend more than anything was how brilliantly it felt like what church is meant to be.  

 

A few years ago, I was listening to a talk by Francis Chan, a total hero of mine, and in it he posed the question, if you were stranded on a desert island with just the bible and you read it over and over, and then later you were rescued and you were excited because you were going to visit one of these churches, is this what you would expect church to look like. "If all you had was the bible, would you expect this amazing fellowship, this amazing love for one another, supernatural things going on, a caring and sharing of possessions. Would you expect to see a bunch of people totally focused on a mission, like we've got to tell everyone what we believe?  Would you really expect to see just a bunch of people sitting in chairs, watching something on stage and then just heading home?"  Since hearing this it has really stuck with me, I feel very strongly that churches in general have lost their identity of what they were meant to be, and been hugely challenged that as a member of God’s church I have accepted a pattern of living and created/inherited a view of church that is nothing like the early church in the bible.  

 

Last weekend, for me anyway, felt more like the early church in Acts, meeting regularly, sharing food with each other, supporting each other, having connected fellowship with each other, sharing in love for each other, focusing on a shared mission together.  It was a baby step forward for me in feeling like a church together, and we have a mission to share together that I hope goes beyond the ideas we discussed together and shared heart we were forming with each other, but it was good and it filled me with the kind of joy Paul seemed to have for very church he shared in his ministry with.

"Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now." - Philippians 1:3-5 [NLT]

Tim Holt

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Hallelujah! What a Saviour

I seem to have settled into a pattern of writing about whatever song is currently on my heart, and this week I have been listening to a particular song, multiple times every day, it is summing up my Lent this year and speaking volumes into my heart.  The song is "Hallelujah! What a Saviour", a classic hymn, performed by the wonderfully raw, Ascend The Hill.  If you love this song, I really encourage you to give their version a listen.  The song describes and breaks down the wonder of what happened at Easter.

One particular line stands out to me every listening:
"Guilty, vile and helpless we,
Spotless lamb of God was he"

This line just seems to describe so well, firstly our depravity and fallen-ness.  "Vile" is not a word that often appears in beautiful songs, but here it is just perfect.  While no one likes to think of themselves as vile, as sinners, to be aware of how we stand in comparison to the perfectness of God, how vile we are next to the spotless lamb that is Christ is so important. Finally the line recognises we are helpless, because it is only those who know they are helpless who need the Saviour, and Hallelujah, what a Saviour we have, spotless lamb of God was he.  As a lamb Christ was a sacrifice, but being a lamb of God he is an eternal sacrifice, unlike the regular sacrificial lamb, Christ is the everlasting sacrifice, the lamb of God.

 

The following line shows and re-echoes this perfectly:
"Full atonement can it be?"

Full atonement, for everything we will ever do ever..., I think sometimes we are so used to the new covenant and the salvation we have we can miss the contrast and the mind-blowing-ness that is the sacrifice of God, one atonement for all and for ever, is it any wonder the line the songwriter comes back to is Hallelujah, what a Saviour!

This song just gets it, it gets the cross, it gets the resurrection, in the next verse and in the final verse it gets what it at all means:

"When he comes, our glorious king,
All his ransomed home to bring, 
Then anew his song we'll sing,
Hallelujah, what a saviour!"

Tim Holt

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Relational God

The Trinity is a concept commonly struggled with, there are many metaphors to help grasp it, all with their strengths but also with their flaws, because while helpful they over-simplify the make-up of God.  God being God, any understanding of the Trinity is bound to fall short, but this week I was reflecting on the most useful explanation of it I ever heard and realising that while still short of the full glory of our God it continues to help me understand the nature and grace of God even more.  So here goes...

 

As humans we all seek out the company of others: friends, family, even our pets, and we go stir crazy when left with only our own thoughts for too long.  Even when we crave a good book, or great tune, we are wanting to hear from someone else in whatever medium the conversation is in because at our core we are relational beings, something inside us is relational and is not satisfied existing completely alone. But why?  Well the bible is clear we are made in God’s image, reflecting the core of God's nature in his most treasured creation. We are relational at our core because God is relational. However, God’s identity that he reflects in his creation is, and always has been, complete and perfect in him.  Inside God exists relationship, in fact, God by himself is the very blueprint for the perfect relationship. When I think about it, it becomes so obvious, the bible tells us God is love, but God is complete without any of his creation, before anything else existed, God was love and always has been love, because before anything else was created God had relationship inside his very nature.  Between father, son and spirit exists the closest, most intimate, loving relationship that could ever exist, completely satisfied and perfect in itself, Trinity.

 

The thing that really blows my mind though, that I have been reflecting on this week is what this means in relation to the cross. Jesus was punished for our sins by the father, so that we could have that relationship with him.  To restore relationship with him, God in all his glory and Trinity took the punishment on himself and we see this in the words Jesus spoke: “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”  The closest, most loving relationship ever, took it on itself to restore relationship with its creation through its own suffering, as father punished son on the cross. 

 

In the run up to Easter I am humbled by the grace of God, that relationship with me was of such value, that the closest and most loving relationship ever was laid bare on the cross for my sin, in the words of the well known song:

"How great the pain of searing loss,
The father turns his face away,
As wounds which mar the chosen one,
Bring many sons to glory."

Tim Holt

[Monday's Devotional] - Love like God loves

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love" - 1 John 4:7 [NASB]

This verse is as clear as day, we are to love.  If we know God, we are to love because God is in his very nature love.  This is in itself a challenge.  I think sometimes we soften what it means to love each other to make it easier, but later on in the passage it says "God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us".  This means we have to love each other like God loves us, this is not a technicality love, a scrape-through love, this is full-on love, like God loves us.

During the Weekend Away at Home, Paul spoke about Jacob working seven years to earn Rachel, but is tricked into marrying Leah, and made the point that a father’s love does not discriminate.   He used the phrase that to him each daughter was worth seven years.  When he said this I realised if I were to try and love people as God loves, I have to think of the people I love the most and try and love everyone the same, as God loves everyone the same.  This to me is the real challenge, because God loved me, I should love others and I should love them like God loves them, value them like God values them, each worth seven years.

 

Tim Holt

[Friday's Devotional] - Stewards of Creation

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;

or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you.

Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.
Job 12: 7-10 [NIV]        

 

I sometimes find it ironic listening to scientists explaining the way life evolved on earth and the way in which research tells us it was formed. In the book of Genesis (written perhaps around 2,500 years ago) there are a number of clues to the creation which seem to be (at least as I see it) in tune with modern thinking:

• The earth was formed out of nothing – as was the Sun and moon
• The seas were present before the appearance of “dry land”
• Fish and animals were present before the first humans arrived
• The heavens were “stretched out”

Whether you believe in evolution or creation (or a Creator who caused the Universe to evolve) it seems amazing that some people believe in chance and probability with more conviction than a Creator.

 

However the earth was created, it is certain that most of the world’s current problems were created by the human animal.  Without mankind there would be plentiful natural resources, a balanced food chain, much less pollution and many more things.  

 

The recent fall in the price of oil is a double-edged sword.  On the one hand we have cheaper fuel and cheaper road haulage costs associated with it, but on the other hand the oil and gas industries are struggling to adjust to a colossal reduction in revenue.  And the alternative sources of energy from “fracking” might lead to environmental damage beyond what we have already experienced as profit comes before environment at every turn.

 

What does it mean to be good stewards of God’s creation?  How can we live in harmony with the rest of creation?  What price convenience, energy, comfort and excess?

 

Lord, we are sorry for the way in which we have harmed your creation.  Help us to be wise in our decisions about the use of all the resources you have given us, Amen.

Dave MacLellan 

[Thursday's Devotional] - Take care with the God Card

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1: 27 [NIV]

 

This week sees “Super Tuesday” in the US elections of 2016, and by the end of this week the front running candidates for Republican and Democrat nominations will be known – though the decision won’t be taken until July and the election isn’t until November 8th!

 

Recently the Pope and Donald Trump made public comments about each other. Jesus was not a fan of the Religious Leaders of the day in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago and there is often a conflict between religion and the bible as the church is led by humans with failings and a sinful nature who can be polluted by the world.  I don’t pretend to be able to judge whether Trump or Pope Francis is a true Christian, though certainly the latter is more impressive in his actions than the former.  Many US politicians “play the God card” as the attendance at Church in USA is perhaps 3x higher than in the UK (according to Wikipedia).  Whilst man looks on the outside, God looks at the heart – and true Religion is measured by both actions and the strength to avoid “being polluted by the world”.

 

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

 

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  Matthew 25: 37-40 [NIV]

 

What does it mean to be a Christian in 2016?  How can we stand up against the corruption and pollution of the world?  Do our actions reflect the same faith as our words?  

 

Lord, bless the leaders of the Church, especially Archbishop Justin Welby and Pope Francis. Help us to practice true religion in our actions as well as our words, in the name of Christ.  Amen.

 

Dave MacLellan

[Wednesday's Devotional] - God is not Fooled by Facebook Likes

But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?  Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.  And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”  They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”  When they heard it, they marvelled.  And they left him and went away. Matthew 22: 18-22 [ESV]

 

The recent announcement by Mark Zuckerberg (Number 7 on the Forbes List of richest Americans) and his wife Priscilla Chan that they plan to give away 99% of their shares in Facebook over the course of his life (valued at £30 billion currently) made news headlines before Christmas. 

 

Zuckerberg is not the only philanthropist in the top 20 for wealth – the top two being Bill Gates and George Soros who have between them given away over £40 billion already and plan to give away most of their wealth before they die.

 

Only a few weeks earlier it had been announced that Facebook paid a mere £4,327 in UK Corporation tax for the year 2014.  What is interesting is the preference all the above named rich businessmen appear to give to charitable giving above paying taxes.  Although the charitable sector has its own share of bad publicity (a few bad apples spoiling the reputation of the bunch), it seems that the richest in the world will always pay a smaller percentage of their wealth in tax than the poorest or even the “squeezed middle”, and spend their wealth where they desire to make a difference in relieving poverty or improving health – not always investing in the wisest ways.

 

Tax evasion (criminal) and the lesser evil tax avoidance (legal) are major contributory factors driving governments into debt and putting a strain on public services.  Is it fair that the richest avoid their moral and sometimes legal responsibilities in society?  Perhaps if they rendered to Caesar (or today in the UK, Osborne) that which was due we would find our global economy in better shape?

 

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.  Mark 10:25 [KJV]

 

Lord, we thank you for those who support charities with generous giving.  Help those with the greatest wealth to be wise and honest in their business affairs.  Amen.

 

Dave MacLellan

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Serving two masters?

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.  1 Timothy 6:10 [NIV]

 

I am no longer surprised by the behaviour of the major banks.  There seems to be no end to the moral bankruptcy in the banking sector where the mis-selling of PPI, the fixing of Libor, the selling of toxic assets leading to colossal losses and the lack of governance and regulation have contributed to tough times for all – except the bankers who are now back in the black with their 6-figure bonuses. 

 

There are some ethical bankers, and banks, but on the whole the love of money has proven to corrupt and divert the morals of many at the top.  While the poor get poorer, the rich get richer – one of the fastest growing sectors is the ultra-luxury brands where the super-rich can spend jaw-dropping sums on the most mundane of possessions.  I watched a brief part of a programme on TV where the wife of a billionaire was shopping for 3 suits and 3 watches for her husband and not receiving much change from £1 million.

 

At the same time as spending colossal amounts of money on “stuff” many of the above delight in paying as little tax as possible, by virtue of non-domicile arrangements and the use of accountants who can find and exploit all the available loop-holes.

How does God view those whose lives are built around the acquisition of money and the stuff that it buys?  How can we guard ourselves against being motivated by the love of money?  What is our attitude to paying tax, or our tithe?

 

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 
Matthew 6:24 [NIV]

 

Lord, help us to avoid the love of money and to recognise that we can’t serve two masters.  Amen.

Dave MacLellan