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Wrington & Lynch Chapels

Minister’s Website Article April 2020

I hope you are coping, and not feeling too lost. With our buildings closed, we are trying to do as much as possible by phone, email, and this website. So use the resources if they help.

Meanwhile, does this situation make you feel powerless? Do you go, ‘I can do nothing except sit it out.’ You’re not alone. The great reformer, Martin Luther, prayed this: ‘Dear God and Father, we thank you for your infinite goodness and love for us. You continually keep us in your Word, in faith, and in prayer. By this we know how to walk before you in humility and fear. By this we are not proud of our own wisdom, righteousness, skills, strength, but glory alone in your power. You are strong when we are weak. Through our weakness you win daily. And you gain the victory.’

I get the feeling that we need to learn to pray that way. Perhaps there has never been a time when God’s people have less power. There hasn’t been a time when Christians could do less about what’s around them. There hasn’t been a time when Christians shouted as loud, and said as little, with as little effect. Yet, in all that, it would be really good to pray the prayer Martin Luther prayed.

Martin Luther was in hot water all the time. He had physical problems, so bad he couldn’t sometimes get out of bed. His name was on ‘Wanted’ posters. People wanted to kill him. Not only that, he was extremely sinful. He said, ‘Sin boldly,’ and did. He was an earthy man who depended totally and absolutely on God’s grace. So he prayed, ‘We are not proud of our own wisdom, righteousness, skills, strength, but glory alone in your power. You are strong when we are weak. And through our weakness you win daily. And you gain the victory.’ Isn’t that good to know?

Sometimes, in prayer, I say, ‘God, I can’t believe you did that! What are you doing?’ That’s real prayer. Read Psalm 22. It gives you permission to talk like that: ‘Where are you? I’m supposed to be yours. If you treated your friends a little bit better, you’d have more.’ The Bible gives us the freedom to be that honest. Don’t pretend. Tell God your thoughts.

And, when you’re scared, run to Jesus. You know, if we run to Jesus when we’re not scared, we wouldn’t be scared so much. There are more of us praying to God at the moment, because we’re scared. We know we need help. That’s good. Do you really think God isn’t involved in what’s happening? We’re in a mess. When we know it, and know we can’t fix it, and then go to God, that’s good. Our help is in him.

And, we need each other. God created us that way. Despite church divisions, despite the difficulty of porcupines trying to hug each other, we still do. There is a bonding you and I can’t get any other place. Everybody who belongs to Jesus belongs to everybody who belongs to Jesus.

At the moment we can’t do that face-to-face. But let’s grab hold of our faith. Let’s turn to God with all our problems. Let’s trust that he has a way out. And let’s find ways we can share that together. Then we’ll come out the other side singing God’s praises.

Every blessing

Duncan