Thought for 13 April 2022

 Romans 3:23-24 (New International Version)

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

I have said before that in preparing these articles, it occasionally offers the opportunity for a moan and I’m choosing today to accept that opportunity.  In Monday’s thought, I wrote about missing the joint midweek worship in Holy Week.  The internet would surely point me in the direction where I could take in these services and also give me an opportunity to see if another church of Scotland does things differently from what we are used to.  This proved to be something of a stumbling block because no matter what combination of words I searched on, I could only find services on Thursday and Friday of this week.  In accessing the websites of local churches in this area, I drew a similar blank.  Finally, I emailed a minister I knew directly and found out he was holding midweek services every evening of Holy Week even including Easter Saturday.  As I write this, I have attended his Monday and Tuesday services, will be attending tonight and Saturday and tomorrow and Thursday, I’ll be at Uddingston Old where my friend is clerk to the Kirk Session.

Holy Week is the most important time in the Christian calendar and it is important for all of us to meditate on this final week of the ministry of Jesus in this world and forget about the chocolate eggs and legs of lamb for a wee while.  Some of us can be disciplined enough to manage this on their own while others, myself included, prefer to be in the company of fellow sinners and hear the happenings of this final week being preached to me.  Either way, if we do not experience a tangible variety of emotions (joy, guilt, sadness, embarrassment, grief, wonder, love) during this special week, we are doing something wrong.

Despite us all being congregations of the Church of Scotland, we tend to just concern ourselves with our own congregation, our own buildings, our own form of worship.  Probably none of us get to other churches that often and that is just the way it is.  There are probably lots of good things happening at a congregational level but how can we attract more folks to join us when we’re not great at letting them know about these good things and inviting them in?

In this special week, we need to remember that we are part of the Christian Church with Jesus at its head.  Whatever happens in the future at congregational or national level will be down to decisions made by men and women just like ourselves.  We can only pray that these decisions are good decisions for the Church of Jesus Christ universal and that more may be drawn to it for redemption through grace in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Prayer            Lord, we thank you for your saving grace and ask forgiveness for our sins that weighed you down even unto death.  Help us not to avert our eyes from the horrors of the cross.  Rather than that, help us focus all our attention on the cross and cling to it all the days of our lives and let us remember the painful journey that led you there and how it was perfectly completed for all time.       Amen.