Wilderness Virtues - Lent Series

This is a series of 5 addresses given at Compline in St Mary's Church Swansea through Lent 2021

PRAYER & TRANQUILITY 

The reading  from the gospel according to Mark Ch 1 vs. 35. 

 

‘In the morning, while it was still very dark, he (Jesus) got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed…’

 

 

When I was in Theological College (and I don’t need you to show how impressed you are by this !!) I was Senior Student for a year – it sounds lot more grand than it was, but one of the achievements that I was most proud of was reducing the time of silence within the morning and evening prayer service – after each of the readings we used to have what seemed like an eternity of silence…. I hated it – I am not good at silence – my mind seems to just wander off in all kinds of directions although most of my thoughts are centred upon my desire for the silence to end soon. 

 

But whilst I was proud of myself at the time, I do actually recognise that there are real benefits in just spending time in quiet, praying or maybe just listening, maybe just recognising that you are there in the presence of God… 

 

And one of the examples that we have to follow to prove this is the example of Jesus himself – on a number of occasions we are told of him going off to spend time in prayer and tranquillity. 

 

I have labelled this short series of addresses ‘Wilderness virtues’ – The wilderness is a place where you become very exposed both in physical and spiritual terms and over the coming weeks we will think about that, but it was the wilderness where Jesus often went to in order to find peace for prayer, in order to find real tranquillity, and we are called to follow his example… 

 

So often in our lives we are busy – we don’t create time and space for prayer and tranquillity and yet, Jesus did… These things were important enough for him to do it, and they must be for us too… 

 

Jesus obviously prayed regularly…

 

Prayer and tranquillity was important… And apart from the verse I’ve used this evening, there were other times we can think of as well. For example, following his baptism by John, Jesus went off by himself into the desert to fast and pray to prepare for the temptations he would experience (Matt 4).

 

When Jesus heard about the death of John the Baptist “he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself” (Mt 14:13). 

 

In addition to taking time for prayer before he faced a difficult task, Jesus also would go off by himself following a busy day. After feeding the thousands, he dismissed them, sent the apostles off by boat, and then “went up on the mountain by himself to pray (Mt 14:23, see also Mk 6:46). Matthew tells us that he was alone there until the evening.

 

Luke (6:12) tells us that prior to sending his disciples off on a mission, Jesus “departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer.”

 

I’m sure that there were many reasons why Jesus went to be alone, one of which must have been that he needed some time to himself. When his disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, he not only taught them the Lord’s Prayer (Lk 11), but he also instructed them to “go into your room and close the door and pray to your Father in secret” (Mt 6:6).

 

Being alone was important - yet Jesus became so popular that it was hard for him to find even a moment of peace and tranquillity. The following verse from the one I used at the beginning says, (Mark 1:36) that when Jesus went off early in the morning to pray he was soon followed by Peter and the other disciples — some versions say that they “pursued” Jesus, others that they ‘hunted’ for him — because the crowds were demanding him.

 

I’m not quite sure that any of us will ever be quite as popular as Jesus who was often surrounded by crowds seeking his attention or just looking at him to see what he was doing, but each of us has demands on our time – it might be work, it might be leisure, it might be a favourite television programme…

 

But what is clear from the example of Jesus is a need to spend time alone – to spend time in prayer or just silence, listening for and to God, just being refreshed by spending time in his presence alone. 

 

As I said, I’ve entitled this series of addresses, ‘Wilderness virtues’ and during the Lenten period it’s particularly appropriate of course to think of Jesus going out to the desert and we assume the desert to be a quiet place, a place of no distractions – of course he faced temptations in the desert, but even for us in the quiet places there can be distractions – the desert provides peace in some ways, but perhaps so much peace that you become aware of even the smallest movements or perhaps the heat or perhaps plans for later… 

 

But the one thing that is guaranteed in the wilderness or the desert is that you’re opened up, you are vulnerable – it is you and God… We need to work hard sometimes to find the right time and place for prayer and tranquillity but it will be worth it. 

 

Stephen Covey, the writer of a book called “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” wrote that urgent matters frequently prevent us from doing important ones… 

 

Our lives can be lived full of prayer, people rush around day by day offering prayers as they go and that’s good – the more our lives are filled with prayer the better, but that doesn’t take away the need for peace – for dedicated times of prayer and tranquillity. It’s what Jesus did and there can, of course, be no better example to follow. 

 

So, it might be difficult for us to set aside time regularly for prayer, but we should do it… Perhaps it’s even fair to say that when we’re at our busiest, when we’re at our most distracted or emotional, those are the most important times to find peace… 

 

Those are the times when we would be wise to follow Jesus’ example and simply go off alone to find the time and tranquillity we need to pray. 

 

To finish I’d like to read some words of Tom Houston writing in the wonderfully and ambitiously named ‘World evangelisation, No 68’ (in 1994) : 

 

He wrote : 

Prayer is praise, worship and thanksgiving to God. 

Prayer is the unending conversation with God about everything that concerns us and ours. 

Sometimes prayer is arguing with God about life’s mysteries.

Prayer is interceding on behalf of others near and far, high and low, rich and poor, weak and strong. 

Prayer is meditating on the working of God in history, the greatness of God in nature, the goodness of God in his providences and the promises of God in scripture. 

Prayer is being totally honest with yourself in the presence of God.

Prayer is recovering from the brink of despair, the depth of failure, the isolation of loneliness. 

Prayer is intensive care in acute suffering and sickness. 

Prayer is refining our dreams about the future in the light of the will of God. 

Prayer is waiting on God when he is long in coming. 

Prayer is the cry for justice when it does not come. 

Prayer is walking with God all day and every day.  AMEN



NOT DOING THINGS TO SHOW YOURSELF


Luke 18:18-24 

 

A certain ruler asked him (Jesus), “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’[a]

21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!


 

This series of addresses looks at ‘Wilderness Virtues’. Last week we thought of the absolutely fundamental need to set times aside for prayer, for peace, for tranquillity. This evening the title of the address is, ‘Not doing things to show yourself’… 


The story of the rich young ruler that we heard a moment ago is a well known one and it’s a passage that really provides challenges for every Christian, particularly those of us living in the relatively well off western world.


In this chapter of Luke’s gospel (18th) Jesus has taught about the widow and the unjust judge who gives in to her not because of anything to do with justice, but because she keeps on… 

Then Jesus went on to tell the story about the pharisee and the tax collector praying at the Temple – the pharisee boldly stood up basically thanking God that he was just amazing – that’s the pharisee himself, not God !! 


But then the tax collector quietly asks for mercy, recognising he is a sinner… The lesson Jesus offers is simple – it is the one who recognises his need for mercy that is right… 


And then there’s another account in the chapter as Jesus blesses little children who are brought to him – the disciples try to stop it, thinking Jesus has too much on his plate to have time for this seemingly insignificant group but instead Jesus suggests to people that ‘whoever does not enter the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ 


He is of course saying that we need to recognise our dependence on God and his grace always and so we come to the account of the rich young ruler…. 


He approaches Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life – he’s ready to ‘buy’ his way into eternal life whatever that might cost. If it’s financial he’s got plenty of money, if it’s helping some people out financially, he can probably do it. 


And this is a good man – when Jesus asks him about keeping the laws the man says that he’s kept them, but then Jesus delivers the one thing the man can’t give – he tells him to sell everything he has and follow him…

It was a step too far – this he couldn’t do… 


He had failed to understand that eternal life wasn’t something that could be bought or even earned, but rather it was a gift from God… Unless the man was willing to give his life to God, to follow Jesus whatever the cost, then it wouldn’t be enough. 


I think the first thing we recognise in this account is perhaps that the ruler was coming to Jesus not in faith, not in trust, but with what he thought was a pretty good case for eternal life – he was a good man and he had a lot of money too. He wanted to be told he was good enough, or he wanted to be given some sort of task he could do…


Jesus gave him the task that he knew the ruler couldn’t do – give up everything and follow him… 

The wilderness can be a place of isolation, peace, calm, loneliness, heightened awareness of little things. It can be a place for reflection… Physically it can be a place of heat and discomfort and yet it is to the wilderness that we are so often called.


And that is what Jesus was saying to this ruler – unless he was prepared to strip away everything in terms of his wealth and possessions and just follow Jesus then it was never going to be enough. 


For some, that has been taken to mean that all Christians really should give up everything we have in terms of possessions and wealth, and for some that will certainly be the call, but what it means most clearly of all is that we constantly need to be stripping away things that are more important to us than God… 


Each one of us is invited to step out into the wilderness where we recognise that possessions and wealth mean nothing, each one of us invited to remain the unique person that God created, but to submit to him our lives…


The ruler needed his possessions – he needed control over something, he needed to feel that he had ‘made it’ in life so that people would still bow to him and offer him respect. 

Again, there are parallels for all of us as well. We are often offered the temptation to look important, to show we’re in control of things – this can be a huge temptation for clergy who are often asked for all kinds of advice on things we just don’t know anything about, but somehow we feel we have to answer. It helps us to feel important and wanted… 


The wilderness doesn’t care about reputations, it doesn’t care about money or property, it doesn’t care about status – in the wilderness we are all stripped down, we are all vulnerable. 

It’s no coincidence that this passage is found in this particular chapter – thinking of the things that went before as we did earlier, we are reminded of the account of the widow and the unjust judge. The unjust judge gave in to the widow because she persisted and the lesson has to be that if a judge like that is going to give in because someone kept on, then how much more will God who loves us and treasures us offer us grace and mercy and limitless love… 


The vulnerable widow laid herself open to the judge and we are called to lay ourselves open to God and recognise grace… 


And then there was the Pharisee and tax collector praying – well, the pharisee was the better man in the eyes of society at the time I’m sure, but it was the tax collector who was willing to just lay himself open to God’s mercy and grace that was the real winner. 


And then we moved from parable to reality and, as the children were brought to Jesus, he said others should be like them – children are innocent but dependant, honest and open. Like children we are called to lay open our lives to God – to receive and know the blessings he offers to us, and to enjoy the lavishness of his grace and love. 


Be willing to go to the wilderness, to open yourself up to God, get rid of things in life that are more important than Him and receive his strength and blessing to live a life which might not always be easy, but will be full and will be rich in meaning and love…  and be empowered to show not yourself but Him through your lives. AMEN 



DARING & PATIENCE


The first reading is taken from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 4, verses 1 to 6

 

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

 

 

The second reading from the Gospel according to Luke, Chapter 9, Verse 51 

 

51 When the days drew near for him (Jesus) to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

 

 

I think some of you here will have been to the Holy Land – it’s an incredible place to go and helps to bring alive so much of the bible that we hear… Very basically there is Galilee in the north of the country, with small towns and villages surrounding the Sea of Galilee – it’s a beautiful peaceful area and then if you travel down towards Jerusalem you hit the desert, the wilderness, again a place of peace and in some ways beautiful, but a very different sort of peace and beauty to the rather idyllic Galilee regions… 

 

And then there is Jerusalem – the bustling city, today full of cars and buses and people and noise… And if you take away the cars and the buses, whilst there are things that are hugely different, the atmosphere of these three regions hasn’t really changed a lot since the time of Jesus…  The calm of the lakeside, the tranquillity of the desert and the noise of Jerusalem… 

 

This evening I want to think about daring and patience, two wilderness virtues, two virtues which we all need, I think, as Christians. 

 

I read from Ch 4 of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, another one of Paul’s letters from prison. And that fact alone reminds us of the character of Paul – whatever his supposed faults and failings which I don’t think are anything like as bad as some people make out, it can’t be disputed that he took incredible risks in order to preach the gospel and grow the church. 

 

And in that determination to make the gospel clear even from his prison cell he was writing to people encouraging them and guiding them – in this letter he was trying to strengthen the Christian community and he was reminding people of the strength gained in unity – and that unity was not just amongst the people there who could meet each other and talk but amongst a community that was growing in areas they would never visit – it was the early days of the worldwide church. 

 

There is strength in unity, but that message is not an easy one and it’s one that takes courage to preach and live… In his letter Paul is encouraging the followers of Jesus there in their behaviour to one another – live with humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love… 

 

A brave message, and an attitude of patience is needed to deliver it and to see it through… Daring & patience… 

 

And these are two wilderness virtues which are necessary for us all. In the first week I thought of the value of finding our wilderness, a place where we can best be alone with God to spend time in prayer, speaking to him or listening, and this wilderness is one that we can continually return to.

 

The wilderness is in some ways a scary place to go alone – you’re exposed and vulnerable and in a physical sense you can recognise just how small you are… And not a lot seems to happen there… 

 

But when you take time, when you pay attention you see that it’s worth the risk of being there, because you see small things, maybe tiny creatures, maybe a little bud growing or just the sand drifting about a bit… 

 

Being in the desert takes some daring and you need some patience but it is worth the effort. 

 

So, what might be the risks for us in the wilderness ? I think perhaps the greatest risk we can take is to step out more in our relationship with God – to stretch ourselves a little further, perhaps in our studying and understanding of the bible, perhaps in our prayer and reflection… Perhaps it will be in stretching ourselves in terms of our relationships with others, particularly those with whom we struggle… The wilderness is the place to speak and listen to God, to take chances in that relationship and to recognise that all we can do is seek his strength and wisdom and trust him. 

 

Those are just three elements of risk that perhaps God is encouraging us to – more bible reading, more prayer and working on relationships – and these are tough. These are daring because they can provoke thoughts and sentiments in us which challenge us, which lead us to ask more questions, but God is there with us… 

 

And we need patience, patience to recognise that God’s timing is nothing like our timing and sometimes God’s will and his vision is, (sometimes irritatingly !!) not exactly the same as ours. 

 

It can seem risky or nerve wracking to have faith when in silence – when nothing seems to be happening, but then there’s the example of the small things that you can see happening in the wilderness, in the desert, when you look hard enough… 

 

We need space, we need time, we need peace in order to look around us to see more of God at work and to see where he is calling us to join him in that work… 

 

We live in a very impatient society, a society that often expects things done yesterday. Emails are wonderful things, but people expect immediate replies – I know, I’m as big an offender as anyone ! We can dial up for food or shop online at any time of the day or night – we just don’t have to wait for things, but that’s not realistic in everything… 

 

Take time in the wilderness, time when the internet connection is out of range, perhaps not literally but because you’ve turned it or the various devices you might have off…  What might God be calling you to do ? In what ways can you stretch yourself in your relationship with God and with other people ? 

 

When Paul wrote to the Ephesians about unity, I think he wasn’t just stressing the unity in the local church as I said earlier – the people there may not have thought too widely – they didn’t have the same worldwide concept as we might have today, but there is comfort and there is strength in knowing that we are one part of a body, the church. One part of a group of people who are joyful and prayerful, who are celebrating and struggling, who are sorrowful and wondering where to turn…  

 

This last year has given a lesson to us all in this impatient society to just wait – we’ve tried to find ways around it but there has been for most, if not all of us, elements of needing to be patient, but that isn’t a bad lesson. It’s not one we’d necessarily choose, but it’s not bad ! 

 

I read that one verse from the gospel according to Luke (9:51) and it’s a really key verse in the gospel – a turning point. ‘When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem’. 

 

Jesus had been to Jerusalem before but from here onwards, the focus was towards the cross and ultimately as we know the resurrection. 

 

On Sunday one of the readings was about the foolishness of the cross, and this was a move that seems so risky, so foolish – if the disciples had realised or really believed where Jesus was heading and why at this point then they may not have followed quite so happily… None of us are called to take the risks that Jesus did for the reasons he did, but we are called to step out in faith, to take chances as we seek to build relationships with God and with others, relationships that can help us to learn more, to pray more, to read the bible more, to share the gospel with others… 

 

We are all called in a way to turn our face towards Jerusalem, and to focus on that – not on the journey to the cross but on the empty cross and the risen Saviour… We’re called to leave the idyllic peace of Galilee, to spend time in the peace of the wilderness and to head for the bustle and activity of Jerusalem… 

 

We take risks by stepping out in faith and we patiently wait for God to act, always awaiting opportunities to join in with what he is doing – maybe it will be something dramatic, maybe it will be slow or quiet, maybe we won’t even see results ourselves… 

 

What is our turning to Jerusalem point ? Where might God be calling you to stretch yourself ? AMEN 

 

 

LOVING OTHERS & BECOMING MERCIFUL 


The reading from the Gospel according to Luke Chapter 23, Verses 32 to 43 

32 Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. 35 And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

This evening the theme of the address, continuing this series of ‘Wilderness Virtues’ is ‘Loving others and becoming merciful.’ It’s a chance to reflect on the commands that Jesus stressed, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and Love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Matt 22: 37-39), as we recognise that part of loving someone involves forgiving them if they’ve hurt us… 

Some of you will know about Corrie Ten Boom – She was a Dutch Christian who, along with her family, helped Jews to escape from the Germans during the war. In 1944 she and her family were arrested – her father died in custody and she and her sister, Betsie, were sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp where Betsie died. I’d like to read part of her 1972 book, ‘The Hiding Place.’ It’s quite a long section, but I think it’s worth it. 

“It was in a church in Munich that I saw him, a balding heavyset man in a grey overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken, moving along the rows of wooden chairs to the door at the rear.

It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives.

It was the truth they needed most to hear in that bitter, bombed-out land, and I gave them my favourite mental picture. Maybe because the sea is never far from a Hollander’s mind, I liked to think that that’s where forgiven sins were thrown.

“When we confess our sins,” I said, “God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever.”

The solemn faces stared back at me, not quite daring to believe. There were never questions after a talk in Germany in 1947. People stood up in silence, in silence collected their wraps, in silence left the room.

And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones.

It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the centre of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister’s frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were!

Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland; this man had been a guard at Ravensbrück concentration camp where we were sent.

Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: “A fine message, fräulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!”

And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course–how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women?

But I remembered him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. It was the first time since my release that I had been face to face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.

“You mentioned Ravensbrück in your talk,” he was saying. “I was a guard in there.” No, he did not remember me.

“But since that time,” he went on, “I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fräulein”–again the hand came out–“will you forgive me?”

And I stood there–I whose sins had every day to be forgiven–and could not. Betsie had died in that place–could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?

It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.

For I had to do it–I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. “If you do not forgive (men their) trespasses,” Jesus says, “neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

I knew it not only as a commandment of God, but as a daily experience. Since the end of the war I had had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality.

Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that.

And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion–I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.

“Jesus, help me!” I prayed silently. “I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.”

And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.

“I forgive you, brother!” I cried. “With all my heart!”

For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.

And having thus learned to forgive in this hardest of situations, I never again had difficulty in forgiving: I wish I could say that! I wish I could say that merciful and charitable thoughts just naturally flowed from me from then on. But they didn’t.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned at 80 years of age, it’s that I can’t store up good feelings and behaviour–but only draw them fresh from God each day.”

 

As I said earlier it’s a long reading but I think it’s worth it as it reflects so much of the power needed to forgive and to love – Corrie’s actions were a reflection, albeit imperfect, of the sort of love and mercy that Jesus revealed so many times, not least on the cross as we heard in the gospel reading where he forgave those who put him on the cross and then promised the thief who turned to him asking for help, that he would be with him in Paradise.

I’ve often thought that using Jesus as an example of how we should behave seems a little unfair – after all we’re not going to be that good, that disciplined, that wise or that loving and merciful. Much like Corrie Ten Boom we will struggle to love everyone, we will struggle to forgive sometimes, but much like her, we also have the opportunity to call on God’s strength. 

Actually, Jesus is the only one that we should seek to fully emulate in our lives – it’s good to learn from others, it’s strangely encouraging to hear how other people struggle sometimes with the things with which we struggle ourselves. It’s good to follow good practice from other people, good to grow and develop by learning from others, but ultimately it has to be about Jesus. 

It has to be about taking another trip out to our wilderness to really find time for God – to really find time to look at the things in our lives where we’re not following Jesus and perhaps have even sub-consciously decided not to because frankly, it’s a bit too hard… 

In the wilderness, alone with God, there is nobody to point at and suggest we’re doing better than them, nobody that we can say led us astray or was a bad influence, nobody that we can pretend to like or love but actually we’re having a go about them behind their back or thinking bad thoughts about them… God sees us for who we are, the good and the bad, and it’s pointless approaching him with any other thought… 

But of course, the fact is that God wants us to approach him as we are – he wants us to be better I’m sure, but he calls us as we are because he loves us. This is God who on the cross was able to forgive, God who promised the thief that on that very day there would be a place in Paradise for him. Are there things in our lives that are holding us back from him ? Are there things we should be trying to put right …..?

Jesus calls us all to him – and he loves us so much that he can’t and won’t reject us or anyone, who turns to him… He loves us without limits and he accepts us into his family with no conditions but as part of that family he calls us to love – to love Him, to love others, to love ourselves, to forgive those who have hurt us… 

It isn’t easy, but the example from Jesus is that we must do it, and the example from Corrie Ten Boom is to turn to him to help us, to strengthen us, to give us an ability which by ourselves we simply haven’t got; and if we fail, then we try again and we never stop trying, to be more like Jesus…  AMEN 


HOSPITALITY 

The reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans, Chapter 12, Verses 9-21. 

 

9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour.11Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.15Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ 20No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

In this series of addresses we’ve thought about wilderness virtues – we’ve thought about prayer & tranquillity, about not doing things to show yourself but to show God, daring & patience and loving others & becoming merciful and this evening is a strange title for a wilderness virtue, but that is hospitality. 

 

When we think of hospitality we might think about entertaining people at home or offering a family member or friend somewhere to stay for example, but hospitality is much wider than that – it is about giving ourselves, it’s about opening ourselves up, welcoming, giving, accepting, sharing, loving… it can be tough… 

 

In the Middle East, today and going back to biblical times, hospitality is incredibly important – the need and ability to care for someone as well as the ability to receive hospitality is essential. To give good hospitality is a source of pride.

 

Our reading this evening comes with a Middle East hospitality slant in it, but it is written of course to the Romans – in it Paul begins by saying, ‘let love be genuine.’ 

 

Love certainly gives a lot, but it also demands a lot – genuine love, the sort of love that Paul wrote of is about really giving of ourselves to others and not thinking about the cost… I heard someone say once, ‘hospitality whispers – what is mine is yours’

 

Paul of course in this part of the letter to the Romans writes about hospitality in terms of relationships with others but ends this passage with that most important instruction to feed your enemies, give them something to drink because by doing that you have the opportunity to drown them in kindness…. As I said, real hospitality isn’t always easy… 

 

But what’s this got to do with the wilderness ? Well, at the risk of verbally sharing holiday photos again, when I was in the Holy Land the first time we went out into the desert very early in the morning for a 6am Eucharist service – as you’d expect, there was nobody around, seemingly for miles. 

 

We began our service, but by the end of it there was quite a group of Bedouin traders surrounding us ready to begin their day’s work with all kinds of scarves and necklaces and bracelets to sell – I’ve no idea where they came from. As I said, it seemed we could see for miles around but almost from nowhere they appeared. 

 

The Bedouins are desert people – literally people who live in the desert and what this group reminded me was that we are never actually alone – we may seem miles from anywhere but somewhere there are people – people who need care and people ready to give care. 

 

Taking our own virtual trip out into the wilderness again, we reflect on the fact that we are stripped bare emotionally – when alone in that vast area, we’re pretty small, pretty vulnerable but it’s a place where we often can feel closest to God as we strip away everything else around us.

 

Apart from satisfying the Bedouin traders, money means very little in the wilderness, status means nothing, backgrounds or particular views mean nothing and alone we rely on the gifts and generosity of others to find us, to care for us… What is most important is the greatest gift that God has given us – the gift of life… 

 

And as we recognise that fact we’re drawn to worship him and to want to serve him, to give back something, however inadequate, of ourselves, for the vast riches that he has given to us as we recognise that what is ultimately the most important thing of all is our relationship with him – what is most important of all is to recognise that when alone, when thirsty or hungry, spiritually or practically, we rely totally on him. 

 

I said that in the Middle East hospitality is tremendously important and it’s important to the giver just as it is to the receiver, perhaps even more important. You are to sit back and be spoilt and I don’t think it’s being disrespectful to suggest that this is how we should be with God as well – there is nothing we can give him except ourselves and yet he is there ready to dish out all kinds of gifts and blessings to each one of us…. 

 

To receive them properly, we need to recognise our need and lay ourselves open to him – in that one phrase we tie up each of our series of Lent addresses – we lay ourselves open in silence and in prayer, we talk to God and we listen to God and sometimes we just listen to the silence; we recognise the fact that there is nothing we can do to make God love us more, or less ! And so, we come to God as we are – which is exactly as he sees us anyway… 

 

We come to God recognising that trying to show ourselves off, trying to put ourselves at the front of everything is ultimately futile when God is our guide, our strength, our inspiration and without him we can’t be the people he intends us to be and so it is him and not ourselves that we seek to show to others through our words and through our actions. 


And those words and actions, as a response to his love and grace, will surely be to take risks for him, to put ourselves out there as we seek to be and share good news – it won’t always be easy and we won’t always see quick results but with daring and patience we seek, trust and follow God’s guidance. 

 

And we do that primarily by loving – we do it in offering love, not just to those who are easy to love, but to those who are the most difficult to love as we care for our enemies, as we love those who we find really difficult, as we serve people who will perhaps never show any kind of appreciation. We love others and as we practice that love it becomes easier to show mercy, just as we have been shown mercy.

 

And so, we come to this evening - we come to God willing to receive and willing to share and so we begin to look outwardly again, looking as far afield as we can – to look where we can show hospitality to others – we do that by loving them, by forgiving wrongs done against us. We do it through selfless giving of ourselves… 

 

That’s where a lot of our reading this evening places its emphasis – on overcoming evil with good. I mentioned earlier, drowning people with kindness, taking it a stage further it is about drowning people with love…

 

So, the wilderness is a place to recognise that we struggle to survive alone. 

It is an important and great place to reflect, to be still, to be with God and recognise that he is ultimately all we need, but we also depend on people, on relationships, on support, but just as we receive we recognise that others depend on those things too and so we give… 

 

We give generously, we give ourselves, we give not asking for anything in return – in giving ourselves freely, we receive richly anyway… 

 

As we draw to a close this series of Lent addresses, I’d like to add one more piece of scripture from the 1stletter of Peter, chapter 4, verses 8 -10 

 

8Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9Be hospitable to one another without complaining.10Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.

 

Peter is making it absolutely clear that our behaviour, our treatment of others is a direct response to what God has given us or atleast what we think of what God has given us – we can ignore the gifts he gives us or we can use them for his glory, to show his love in service of others… 

 

As we leave our virtual wilderness, ready to return often though, we are to have open hearts – hearts that are ready to extend ourselves beyond any expectations; and open hands, hands that are reaching out with acceptance and friendship and love, providing a welcome for all and finally we are to have open homes – that comes more naturally for some people than others I recognise but we do it to serve, we do it as Peter writes, without complaining but with openness… 

 

The differentiation between "hospitality" and "entertaining" was made by Karen Mains in ‘Open Heart, Open Home’ (Elgin, IL: Cook, 1976). She wrote : 

 

Entertaining says, "I want to impress you with my home, my clever decorating, my cooking." 

 

Hospitality says, "This home is a gift from my Master. I use it as He desires."  Hospitality aims to serve.

 

Entertaining puts things before people. "As soon as I get the house finished, the living room decorated, my house- cleaning done - then I will start inviting people. 

 

Hospitality puts people first. "No furniture - we’ll eat on the floor!" 

 

"The decorating may never get done - you come anyway." "The house is a mess - but you are friends - come home with us." 

 

Entertaining subtly declares, "This home is mine, an expression of my personality. Look, please, and admire." 

 

Hospitality is much more than inviting someone to dinner. It involves opening ourselves up, welcoming, accepting, giving, sharing, loving, advocating, even sacrifice, but in giving we also inevitably and wonderfully, receive… 


AMEN 

 



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