Joyful? Yes, even in Lent!

 

There’s a story about a boy who brought home his school report. It contained a lot of poor marks. "What have you to say about this?" asked his father. "One thing is for sure," the boy replied, "Dad, you can be proud. You know I haven't been cheating!"

Some people have a great gift of looking on the bright side of every situation, but others are not so good at that. 

As we look at the news around the world at the moment, there is so much gloom and pessimism whether that comes from the lack of peace in the world or economic situations or anything else! Even following the Welsh rugby team this year hasn’t been a cause for too much optimism! 

And in the church we too can sometimes be guilty of thinking of the problems rather than the blessings and the joys of which there are so many. 

There’s an awful lot of pessimistic people around in the world, and I think the Church tends to have at least its fair share, ready to warn of impending danger and doom, but less ready to meet a challenge with the courage, enthusiasm and joy that God inspires. 

As we think about that we can perhaps spend some time looking at Paul’s letter to the Philippians from which we heard earlier (3:17-4:1). It is, I think, one of the greatest books in the Bible – whilst it was written by Paul from a prison cell, it is a book of so much joy and so much confidence – joy and confidence not necessarily in the immediate situation but in the strength and love and presence of God… 

A lesson for us all in the church today… but it is that sense of pessimism, that I think the Pharisees were offering Jesus in our gospel reading this morning (Luke 13:31-35) as they warned him to get away because Herod was looking to kill him. 

The fact that the warning came from some Pharisees could mean a couple of things – first of all it could have been a kind of test being offered just to see what Jesus would do. This is the most likely course of action from most of the Pharisees who were no friends of Jesus, but there were some who did spend time in his company, and though they may have had some doubts about his ministry, they had no wish to see him killed. 

But whatever group these Pharisees fell into, Jesus’ reaction was one, not particularly of anger, but of disappointment. He talked of Herod as the fox ready and eager to pounce upon his prey. He spoke of himself as  compassionate, like a hen eager to gather her brood under her wings, but he also talked of the work that he was doing, and that there was still to do, and then of the way that he would be rejected by so many of those he came to save. 

And that note of disappointment that he expressed can often be more hard-hitting than any anger – When a parent tells off a child it is often so much more effective to say how disappointed they are in the child, rather than how angry they are. 

But as Jesus spoke of his disappointment, he offered some words of hope to those who were still struggling to recognise him – there would be a day when they would see and proclaim, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’

And the challenge for us as Christians today must be to live out the message of Jesus in the way he did – positively, courageously and powerfully. When we talk of serving God, we do that by sharing his Godly tasks, such as love, compassion, forgiveness, joy and hope. 

In Churches pessimism is one of the most destructive qualities – it leads to apathy and to cynicism, and it leads to people just feeling that they don’t want to be involved. 

But on the other side of that think of a Church full of optimistic followers of Jesus. That will be a Church that people want to be part of. It will be a Church radiating enthusiasm and excitement, a Church where people talk of the good things that are going on – and there are a lot of good things happening which need to be shared.

We can be optimistic in Church because God offers a promise that, whatever we will face in our lives or in our Churches, God will be with us, and we will claim the ultimate victory. And we can be sure that we can claim that ultimate victory because Jesus has already won the battle for us; whatever this life may throw at us, whatever setbacks there seem to be within the Church, Jesus has conquered every one of them through his victory over death. 

Just as his journey was a painful one, so, at times, ours might be, but we take that journey confident in his power and his love, and certain that he will never leave us. 

And so as Jesus lamented over the people of Jerusalem and all those who saw him but didn’t recognise who he was or respond, let’s make sure as we continue this Lenten season that we are not amongst those with whom he is disappointed for not even trying. Yes, we will make mistakes, yes, we will do things wrong, but we will do so with a fervent desire to serve him who gave everything for us.

We must work to defend those unable to defend themselves, to care for those who have no one to care for them, to seek out the lonely, the lost, the grieving, the scared. We must work for justice all around us, and for peace in the world. We must proclaim the unbreakable love of God through our lives – these are huge tasks, and we will never complete them – the work will go on and on, until God’s kingdom is finally and fully established everywhere. 

Today is a day when we go through Lent reflecting on our relationship with God. It’s a day when we think of what things we can do to grow closer to God, but it’s a day that, even as we take the rather sombre journey through Lent, we can know God’s love revealed by Jesus’ willingness to go to the cross… And we also have the advantage of knowing the next bit of the account – the empty tomb on that first Easter morning as Jesus rose from the dead… 

As Christians each one of us is blessed by gifts from God… Today we are celebrating ministry. We are celebrating the gift of music ministry as we think of Robert’s 65 year service as an organist…. We are celebrating the gift of licensed lay ministry with Alison…. But we can also celebrate the ministry to which all of us are called, whether it be in ordained or formal lay ministry or music, or any of the other countless roles that help make up the church… 

Through Lent as we celebrate the gift of the ministry of each one of us, let’s do so optimistically recognising that it isn’t our gift alone to develop. We are God’s people, and God will strengthen us for his service as we grow closer to him day by day… All he asks is that we’re willing… In Lent, we have the chance to examine that more closely - and respond… 

And as we do that, let’s also remember the promises we have been given by God, and the desire of Jesus that we enjoy fullness of life, and let’s be confident, optimistic and joyful in all that we do in his name. AMEN