Letter 21
My Dear Friends, lost causes are everywhere. The teacher who said her student could not be taught. The doctor who said the patient could not be cured. The marriage counsellor who said the relationship was beyond reconciliation. The insurer who said the vehicle was a write off. The political pundit who said neither party was capable of reducing the deficit. In each instance the outcome was settled. The situation, in each case, was hopeless.
Such a situation existed in the early days of the first century. A young leader was dead. He was publically executed for all to see, the body of the Jewish hope was disposed of by the authorities in accordance with the burial customs of the time. When a guard was posted at the burial site and the fate of the Christian cause appeared sealed forever. But then the unexpected happened… Three days later, inexplicable events began to occur. Rumours circulated that the grave was empty and increasing numbers of people claimed to have seen the man they saw executed between two criminals. The lost cause (the dead issue) was not only alive, but he became an irrepressible source of everlasting life. And he became the living leader of what has turned out to be an irrepressible cause.
The church was born at Easter. Rumours of the death of the church of Jesus Christ still circulate. These rumours are more than an exaggeration – they are untrue. The power of this resurrection represents hope for all and every dead issue or lost cause. For the power that raised Christ from death is the same power that changes lives. This power is available to anyone who is willing to be changed by it.
Those who take seriously the resurrection message are never a lost cause, they are never without hope.
Our endeavours in this Baptist Church are invested in the Lord’s winning cause. By God’s grace we will join together at Easter next year. In the meantime we will cling relentlessly to this living hope, knowing this is God’s promise to you of a future resurrection, his promise of a new body, his guarantee of ultimate victory. This is what makes us “Easter People”. In answer to a question concerning restrictions to a recent Muslim festival - and how Christians might feel if one of their celebrations were cancelled - our local MP Jake Berry reminded the journalist that the church did not gather at Easter this year – the greatest Christian celebration of them all. It was a good answer to a question which was probably designed to trip the politician up. But we are always an Easter People and, if you think about it, every day is Easter…or can be…wherever and however we meet. We are never a lost cause. We are always the Church. We are always the Body. We are always walking with God. There is always (a) room for the Lord! Make room by prayer…
“Lord we praise you for the grand epic of our lives, which are laid before you. We thank you for your gift of life, for the guidance you offer and the presence you bring. Lord God of heaven and earth, we thank you that we encounter you in the ordinary aspects of our lives. And in those every day lives, help us to make room for you. Lord when we find ourselves in the wilderness, in the dark places, on the road of suffering, help us to make room for you. When we find ourselves in a place of contentment or joy, help us to make room for you. Lord in our church, with all its facets, and characters, and relationships, and conversations, in our worship, in our pastoral care, keep us alert to you, help us to make room for you. Lord in our wider concerns, as we seek justice for those crushed by unfair systems, as we highlight the human cost of our greed, as we seek to bring freedom for prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, keep us alert to you – help us to make room for you. And Lord, we pray for those close to us, who need your grace to face particular hardships and challenges. We name them silently … by your grace, break into their experience. God of grace, who loves each of us beyond imagining, God who loves all the nameless and faceless people, help us to make room for you…in the profound and the simple… in the depths and in the trivial… in the epic and in the ordinary… keep us alert to you in the daily grind, and help us always and everywhere to make room for you. Show us the beauty of every moment, the grace of every breath, the wonder of the everyday, in the ordinary lives you have given us, and by your extraordinary power, help us always and everywhere, here and now, in the great and in the small, to make room (especially) for you…In Jesus’ Name, Amen…”
Every Blessing! Mark and Susan (07-08-20)