As we journey through these uncertain times, each day Sean will to seek post a thought or reflection, a Bible verse or a prayer.
Wednesday 22nd April 2020
‘The new reality’
One of the phrases being frequently used to describe the experience of lockdown is ‘the new reality.’ It describes how everything has changed. The new reality is schools shut, bars and restaurants closed, social gatherings prohibited, doors locked in every church and community building, social distancing and self-isolation for swathes of the population. Familiar routines have come to an end and even the golf course if off limits!
This new reality is turning into a very curious and unfamiliar place. I personally feel for all the P7 pupils who lost out on the experience of leaving Primary School before moving up to the Academy and those confined to hospital or residential care who are unable to have visits from friends and family.
The ‘new reality’ is also a phrase that can be applied to the Christian Faith. From the outside it can be hard to make sense of what faith in God is all about. It can appear strange and bizarre to worship a higher being, to seek His guidance and strength.
Yet from the inside faith does make sense. Personal spiritual experience, the revelation of God witnessed through the Bible and many centuries of Christian history and tradition all make a compelling and coherent case for faith. Yet faith is so much more. It embraces faith, hope and love. There is a verse from 1 Corinthians that comes to mind here:
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. (I Corinthians 2:14)
Trying to penetrate faith from the outside is like looking through a glass darkly. The new reality of God can only be perceived, understood and experienced from the inside. In other words, you cannot know, perceive or understand the reality of God without a personal spiritual awakening.
Rev Sean Swindells
Cruden Parish Church
BIBLE READINGS
1 Corinthians 2
And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
God’s Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him—
10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.[c] 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.Isaiah 55
Invitation to the Thirsty
“Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labour on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
3 Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.
4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
a ruler and commander of the peoples.
5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,
and nations you do not know will come running to you,
because of the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendour.”
6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.REFLECT
Do you know and have you encountered the ‘new reality of God?’
Or are spiritual things strange and unfamiliar?
Why not use this period of to think about where you are in your journey through life?
What parts of your life and routines from pre-lockdown do you wish to discard?
What would you like your life to look life when we emerge from lockdown?
Do you want God to be part of that life?PRAYER
Take a moment to listen to the still small voice of God within the bustle of the day which has begun. Find a quiet place where you can enjoy precious moments of peace in God's presence. Sit quietly and listen to the sounds of the world around you, both outside and in the place where you are. Breathe slowly and rest in God's presence......
From our rising in the morning
to our lying down again,
you are with us
every hour of the day,
our reassurance
when storms assail
and strength
when courage fails.
From our rising in the morning
to our lying down again,
your light illumines
every step of the way,
our comfort
when darkness falls
and peace
that calms our souls.
From our rising in the morning
to our lying down again,
you are with us.
AmenPrayers for others
For the health workers tending the seriously ill
for the scientists working on a vaccination
for the researchers analysing data and identifying trends
for the media outlets working to communicate reality
for the supermarket workers, hygiene and sanitation providers
for the good news stories of recoveries and effective planning
for the singing from balconies by locked-down communities
for the recognition that isolation doesn’t need to mean loneliness
for the notes through letterboxes offering help and support
for the internet and telephones and technology that connects
for the awakened appreciation of what is truly importantThanks be to God.
For those who are unwell and concerned for loved ones
for those who were already very anxious
for those immune suppressed or compromised
for those vulnerable because of underlying conditions
for those in the ‘most at risk to coronavirus’ categories
for those watching their entire income stream dry up
for those who have no choice but to go out to work
for those who are afraid to be at home
for those who are more lonely than they've ever been
for those who are bereaved and grieving.
God be their healer, comfort and protection,
be their strength, shield and provision
be their security, safety and close companion
And raise up your Church
to be your well-washed hands and faithful feet
to be present to the pain
to respond with love in action
if even from a safe distance.
God, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. You will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever.
Amen.
BLESSING
Go now as God’s chosen witnesses
to testify that Christ has been raised
and that we are raised with him.
Do not look for him among the dead,
but be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
And may God raise you from all that would entomb you;
May Christ Jesus call you by name and go ahead of you;
And may the Holy Spirit empower you for all that is good.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord, In the name of Christ.
Amen.
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