Read Ephesians 5:8-14
If we were to read this passage in a “western” way we might think that Paul is giving us an ethical lecture which tells us how we ought to live: The last verse in our reading puts a slightly different slant on the way we understand the directions. “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” The command to awake has a deeper meaning than we might imagine. When I first started work I played in a band and would often get home long after midnight. Sadly my working day would start around 6-6:30am so I was often awakened by a vigorous pounding on the door of my room. It was a challenge to get my feet on the floor and start walking. The scriptural understanding of “awake!” has a different connotation, it means to take stock of your life situation and make different choices. In our language we might say, “Get your act together” So what Paul is saying is that we need to understand what Christ has done for us {that he has bought us with a price; 1 Corinthian 6:20}, and we need to take that message to heart: When we do, the ethical directions about walking in the light take on a new meaning. As Christ’s light shines on us, we are already in the light and so we simply respond to what Christ has done and walk with him. To whom I belong comes before what I do. When I am true to whom I belong that determines what I do more surely that having a list of ethical rules.
Prayer: Lord we thank you that you have planted hope in our hearts. Keep us focussed on your hope not on the struggles that life throws at us. You are greater than any struggle that we face and there is nothing that can take away the love with which you have surrounded us since the moment of our conception. So increase our hope in you that our lives may be lived in confidence as we serve you and others. May our thoughts and deeds be guided by the inward inspiration of your Holy Spirit. May we not hide who we really are from you, but acknowledging that you know us as we are and yet love us, so with greater confidence we may find refreshment in your presence. May we affirm in all we do that we belong to you. Grant to us the power to live our lives courageously for you. We thank you for the care and protection you give to us day by day. Amen
Read John 9:1-41
This is a story with many twists and turns. There is the healing power of Jesus, the faith and obedience of the blind man, the fear of the healed man’s parents and the cynical scepticism of the Pharisees. Each one of these topics is worthy of development but for today let us think about the failure of the Pharisees to accept the blind man’s healing. We find it hard to understand this scepticism until we remember how sceptical we are when we hear of modern day miracles. Even if we were to witness such an event, often after only a few days we begin to doubt and deny. Maybe the person would have got better anyhow; maybe some prescription medicine took affect just at that moment. We can easily fall into the Pharisees trap. They of course had much to lose. Jesus presence and his effectiveness was a real challenge to their status as teachers and religious leaders. How could such deeds come from any other but God! However if it was true that Jesus was from God they were in the wrong and the very basis for their religious practise was demolished. It would be hard to contemplate that your whole life’s belief had just crumbled away. But let us not take the high moral ground against the Pharisees, sometimes our thoughts about God and his ways need to be re-built. Jesus can open blind eyes in many different ways. C S Lewis once said that either Christianity is true and of the utmost importance, or it is untrue and of no importance at all. The one thing that Christianity cannot be is moderately important.
Prayer:
Lord we thank you for this day, you have met us in your word, full of grace and truth and reminded us of the salvation which is ours. We thank you that through Jesus Christ we are at peace with You. May we also be at peace with ourselves and with each other. Give us the courage Lord to face up to what we are, so that through your forgiving love and by the great sacrifice of our Lord Jesus we may obtain what we shall be in your kingdom. May we walk as true children of our heavenly Father doing those things which will be pleasing to him. Grant us a fruitful day walked in the paths of faithfulness. May our trust in you be so strong that nothing will be impossible as we obey your call to love and serve you. This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
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