Re-set and Re-run

Recently we moved house - staying in the same overall area, but moving from one block to another about ten minutes walk away. Naturally amongst the upheaval it has been hard to maintain normal rhythms and the prayer focus for neighbours that we have had over the past 22 months.

Our original near neighbours are not that far away, but now we have new near neighbours to meet, bless and pray for! Therefore part of emerging from the chaos of moving house has involved a kind of 're-set and re-run' of our intentional prayer & incarnational living dynamic. It has meant starting afresh:

• meeting & discovering people who live close by. This includes meeting people who will live close by - their house is not finished yet so they will be moving here in weeks to come
• walking around the area prayerfully, being open to notice and pay attention to whatever we might see
• starting to map out who is who, and put names of neighbours on paper slips so we can pray for them from time to time
• praying into and working out how to make diary space to be able to meet up and get to know neighbours better

We are just getting this re-set going, but it serves as a good reminder of the basic rhythms & practices of incarnational living - the desire to live among and minister to whoever is around us, seeking the Spirit's lead and unfolding.

A key difference to last time is that being in the same area, we already have a diary of community activities that we are plugged into and serving among, and we have a whole number of contacts and people we are working with (accumulated from the last 22 months of mission activity). In that sense we are not totally starting again from scratch, so we could easily devote our energy and focus to maintaining those good good efforts. But the personal calling we feel is to intentionally make space and time for our nearest neighbours: so the re-set and re-run of the basic practices listed above warrant our attention and priority.

The Great Pardoner

A feature of the US presidential handover last January was a flurry of pardons. Biden proactively pardoned those closest to him, and Trump pardoned people with well documented crimes of riot. Naturally there was much debate about the appropriateness of both sets of pardons, and the precedents they set.

In the week of Easter we have an episode of huge injustice, sentencing, punishment, and then vindication - all happening to Jesus. As Christians we understand that this brings and even bigger deal of pardon - so big that it's scale can extend to all humanity, can apply retroactively to sins & people past, and also proactively to sins & people future. It really is the Great Pardon, from Jesus the Great Pardoner.

An interesting aspect of some of the Biden pardons were that they covered future crimes not yet committed - a kind of ultimate speculative insurance policy. That has a curious parallel with the pardon we receive through the death of Jesus on the cross. When we as Christians repent and believe, we typically are sorry for sins past and are grateful for His forgiveness. Yet the reality is that we will sin again, of course. Thankfully, the pardon of Jesus covers those future wrongdoings ... at least on the assumption that we remain in Christ.

The pardon of Jesus is not of course license for us to live however we choose (and I don't think Biden intended that for those he pardoned either), but rather a covering for fallen broken lives. Our shame for previous wrong-doing is removed, enabling us to venture forward in life with heads held high - to do our best to follow Him in His ways. We will not be perfect, but in remaining in Him there is already pardon granted for future failures on our part.

Destination is not Guaranteed

A feature of working with people through a series of Discovery Bible Studies to help them journey towards seeing Jesus and putting their faith in Him, is that there is no guarantee of reaching the desired destination. That destination - for each individual - is them embarking on a life-time following Jesus, finding their own momentum to keep going long after your sessions have stopped. The fact that we have to face is that whatever our best efforts, people may drop out, change direction, or drift away for a whole host of reasons.

We have to give people the freedom and space to do that, since the series of studies are intended to enable someone to discover for themselves - at their pace and readiness. To not give that freedom would mean that ultimately people are not making their own spiritual-heart choice to trust Jesus and follow Him as Lord.

Reassuringly for us, Jesus had to face the same issue. At the end of John chapter 6 a number of 'disciples' were finding his teaching too hard (verse 60), and some turned back and no longer followed (verse 66). Jesus apparently let them go, wondering if even the twelve might reverse direction. Remember also subsequent visits to his home town discovering a lack of belief despite all the healings and miracles in previous visits.

When we try to sit down with people to do such studies, we are praying and looking for those who seem to be open in the first place. That is not an exact science, unless the Spirit graciously gives spiritual discernment or words of knowledge! People who appear open may turn out to be less so, and even those who are more genuinely open can still change direction - much to our frustration. Yet this goes with the territory, and is an occupational hazard as part of the work.

Our role, through it all, is to continue to give opportunities for people to discover Jesus as best as we can, and to be faithful to that endeavour.

Do Not Fret

Psalm 37 verse 1 reads "Do not fret because of those who are evil ..." and exhorts the hearer to trust God even as threat and wickedness swirl around in ever greater measure.

Such words are poignant for our times, as the phenomena some theologians are calling 'The Great Unravelling' plays out at different levels. Many of our established Western churches find themselves facing difficulties, even closure, because their congregation numbers (and cash income) continue to fall away - the existing ways of being church no longer working for them. Also at the international political level we are now living into an unravelling of a world order that we assumed secure from the outcomes of the 2nd World War. We now have Western nations openly advocating policies of mass ethnic cleansing (rather than just quietly funding oppressive actions away from the public gaze) and apparently gearing their responses in ways that align with indicted war criminals of foreign oppressive regimes.

As followers of Christ, we have to re-ask ourselves "Where do we find our security? In whom do we put our trust?". In the past we might have doctrinally declared trust in God through Jesus Christ, yet in practice trusted in our Western nation national and international structures. That must now change! Clearly nations of whatever status cannot be trusted ... the only entity truly trust-worthy is God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Great Unravelling may make you feel quite alone and highly vulnerable. You may well be asking yourself 'Can I make a difference?'. Remember Jesus talked of His Kingdom - a different kind of Kingdom, one unlike any earthly nation state, regime or empire. He described it as the mustard seed, the tiniest of seeds ... that planted in the ground and grew ... continuing to grow ... eventually into a very large bush (or tree) which provided a place of shelter for birds etc. to come under its shade.

There is our clue! "Lord Jesus start with me - may I be firmly planted as your Kingdom agent". Yes the world is literally falling apart all around us, be it established churches, governments, nations and whole international systems ...

But the Kingdom of God will prevail, so do not fret in the midst of all the evil!