Welcome to the
North Wiltshire Methodist Circuit
Dear friends,
It is a wonderful blessing
to enjoy the warmer longer days of summer. Such beauty all around us reminding
us of Gods love and provision for one and all. Whilst rejoicing in Gods
gracious provision, I am also challenged by our Lords mandate on how to live
out the Jesus life in difficult times. Even a cursory look at the news
headlines reminds us that we live in a broken world.
I have been helped in
shaping my own prayers, with reflections from the Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 1-12)
adapted from an article by J. John. I leave them with you to ponder and see
what might speak to you:
‘Blessed are
the poor in spirit’: this is a time
for prayer and dependence on God rather than pompous pronouncements. There are
issues here that are beyond trite and simplistic solutions.
‘Blessed are
those who mourn’: We mourn as we
stand with those who suffer and are in misery.
‘Blessed are
the meek’: crises brings out both
the best and worst in people. One of the worst can be the pressure for ‘strong
leadership’, for ‘firm measures’ or even ‘radical change’. In contrast,
meekness presents no agenda: it listens, seeks wisdom and neither shouts nor
screams.
‘Blessed are
those who hunger and thirst for righteousness’: our society is full of cries. Some, out of a genuine
desire that right be done, are for justice and explanation, and to these there
must be an honest response. Yet amid these voices are similar cries which are
driven by anger and the hunger for revenge. A legitimate demand for justice should
not be diverted into revolt and disorder.
‘Blessed are
the merciful’: to be merciful is the
authentic and caring desire to put others first and seek their welfare. It’s
encouraging what we have seen but there needs to be more and it needs to
persist when the cameras have gone.
‘Blessed are
the pure in heart’: motives for
protest and calls for change can be complicated. We must be sure that in what
we say and do we are truly seeking the welfare of others rather than seeking
our own good.
‘Blessed are
the peacemakers’: perhaps the most
distressing element of these times is the sense of disunity; of factions, of
communities talking in increasingly bitter terms of ‘them’ and ‘us’. Peace-making
can be a blessing.
And finally ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted
because of righteousness, blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you
and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.’ The last and longest of the Beatitudes
is the sting in the tail. To do these things, Jesus says, is no easy path to
popularity and acclaim. On the contrary, to be a peacemaker is to be assured of
being mistrusted, hated and attacked by both sides. And as that rarest of
things, Jesus, who lived out what he taught, knew what he was talking about.
These
are challenging times, yet they are also times brimming with great
opportunities: opportunities to pray, to serve, and – perhaps more
uncomfortably – to endure suffering for the sake of what is right.
Every blessing,
Andrew.
Welcome to the
North Wiltshire Methodist Circuit
Dear friends,
It is a wonderful blessing to enjoy the warmer longer days of summer. Such beauty all around us reminding us of Gods love and provision for one and all. Whilst rejoicing in Gods gracious provision, I am also challenged by our Lords mandate on how to live out the Jesus life in difficult times. Even a cursory look at the news headlines reminds us that we live in a broken world.
I have been helped in shaping my own prayers, with reflections from the Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 1-12) adapted from an article by J. John. I leave them with you to ponder and see what might speak to you:
‘Blessed are
the poor in spirit’: this is a time
for prayer and dependence on God rather than pompous pronouncements. There are
issues here that are beyond trite and simplistic solutions.
‘Blessed are
those who mourn’: We mourn as we
stand with those who suffer and are in misery.
‘Blessed are
the meek’: crises brings out both
the best and worst in people. One of the worst can be the pressure for ‘strong
leadership’, for ‘firm measures’ or even ‘radical change’. In contrast,
meekness presents no agenda: it listens, seeks wisdom and neither shouts nor
screams.
‘Blessed are
those who hunger and thirst for righteousness’: our society is full of cries. Some, out of a genuine
desire that right be done, are for justice and explanation, and to these there
must be an honest response. Yet amid these voices are similar cries which are
driven by anger and the hunger for revenge. A legitimate demand for justice should
not be diverted into revolt and disorder.
‘Blessed are
the merciful’: to be merciful is the
authentic and caring desire to put others first and seek their welfare. It’s
encouraging what we have seen but there needs to be more and it needs to
persist when the cameras have gone.
‘Blessed are
the pure in heart’: motives for
protest and calls for change can be complicated. We must be sure that in what
we say and do we are truly seeking the welfare of others rather than seeking
our own good.
‘Blessed are
the peacemakers’: perhaps the most
distressing element of these times is the sense of disunity; of factions, of
communities talking in increasingly bitter terms of ‘them’ and ‘us’. Peace-making
can be a blessing.
And finally ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted
because of righteousness, blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you
and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.’ The last and longest of the Beatitudes
is the sting in the tail. To do these things, Jesus says, is no easy path to
popularity and acclaim. On the contrary, to be a peacemaker is to be assured of
being mistrusted, hated and attacked by both sides. And as that rarest of
things, Jesus, who lived out what he taught, knew what he was talking about.
These
are challenging times, yet they are also times brimming with great
opportunities: opportunities to pray, to serve, and – perhaps more
uncomfortably – to endure suffering for the sake of what is right.
Every blessing,
Andrew.