Tuesday, 11 March

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. Psalm 34:15

And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’ Luke 18:7-8

We live in an unjust world. This is a fact which we simply can’t deny. We can see injustice in every system we have invented; in any structure we created. 

Nevertheless, whether in politics, science, or economics faith in progress and growth which may remove the human condition has become the new creed: an historical optimism which may not be challenged.

We have witnessed over the last century that this is not true. It has now been a hundred years since the enlightenment lost its innocence in the Great War which we will remember in this anniversary year. Despite technological advances beyond our wildest dreams we also experienced industrial murder on a scale that had not been seen before.

So if we are serious about our faith we are bound to call in to question God’s righteousness, God’s sense of justice. Are we left to just assert that God is just; that we simply can’t see the whole picture? I don’t think that it answers this question. The verses here talk of restoration of justice. The Psalmist and Luke both know that justice is not present. God’s justice is not here. But they offer hope in restoration and reconciliation. Hope through faith that God’s justice will win out in the end. However, we don’t have to wait for the end. God is hoping and longing to find faith that God’s justice will come. A faith that is able to bring a foretaste of God’s healing and reconciling justice into this world. Although we might not be able to overcome our human condition we are able to bring shape our lives to resemble God’s justice more closely in every new generation.

Merciful Lord, your justice is beyond all our comprehension. Let us never lose sight of your righteousness that we may always shape our lives to be the creatures you meant us to be. Amen.

James Grant

St Werburgh’s/St Clement’s

Monday, 10 March

The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine on us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. 

Psalm 118:27

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, a about the troubles we experienced I the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 2 Corinthians 1:8-9

As a child, or even as an adult, did you ever put a comic strip right up to your eyes, so that you could see the individual dots which make up the image? I often find that looking at a Bible verse or two in isolation leaves me with the same perspective. Just like with the picture made up of dots, one needs to take a step backwards and look at the whole picture, or whole Psalm or Chapter.

On first impression, today’s verse from Psalm 118 seems positive, and indeed it is; however, the joy expressed by the Psalmist is one which comes after years of struggle against Israel’s enemies. It is in many ways a triumphal, nationalistic psalm, and the notion of God having a hand in earthly, military victories probably leaves us 21st Century Christians feeling uneasy.

Compare this with the text from 2 Corinthians, where the struggle endured by St Paul was one which arose in his missionary journeys, and the rejection he faced when preaching the Gospel. In 21st Century Britain, it is often the experience of Christians that our faith is alien to many, even though they themselves might identify as “Christian” in a national census, and we may find ourselves keeping our faith hidden.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) folk have the experience of “coming-out”, and thanks to changes in our society, and with equality legislation, that experience is now much easier; however, LGBT Christians often remark that it is harder to “come out” as Christian than to “come out” as LGBT.

In both texts, there is a common theme, one of trusting in God. In his Psalm, David was not reticent in ascribing Israel’s military victory to trusting in God; and Paul’s whole basis of mission was to trust in God.

Today is just the sixth day of Lent, and our Lenten resolutions are relatively fresh in our minds. Beyond the things we may have given up for Lent, at the heart of Lent is a desire for us to become better: that is, to trust in God more and to worry less about what others might think.

Another theme in both these texts is one of achievement: Israel won the war; St Paul completed his missionary journey. What specific goal do we have for ourselves this Lent? 

May God grant to each of us one more step each day in our walk with Him.

Walt Johnson

The Metropolitan Church

First Sunday of Lent - Sunday, 9 March

My salvation and my honor depend on God, he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Psalm 62:7

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 1 Timothy 1:15

I think we all could identify with Paul’s saying from 1 Timothy, I am sure we have all at some point felt unworthy of our salvation.That is what is so amazing about God – grace. Amazing grace.

I belong to a small Christian Group on the Internet. It is very supportive and loving. What I find so interesting about it is the understanding how different people view their salvation. Some people’s attitudes are simply inspiring. Some though make me feel sad.

People carry their crosses in different ways but I don’t think that Jesus would want us to be consumed with feelings of ‘being the worst’ or somehow being unworthy. Media fills our minds constantly with ideals of how we should live, with images of the ‘perfect’ bodies and competitive consumerism. These send peoples confidence and self worth into free-fall.

This isn’t what God would want for us – God is our rock, there is nothing as unmoving or strong as a rock and more than that God wants to be our refuge away from life’s storms. This builds up our confidence and self worth. We are worthy of our salvation – repentance of sin is part of our Christian walk. Being overly negative about ourselves isn’t. If we did this then that detracts from what Jesus did and the grace he shows us everyday.

Amazing Grace.

Lord, Help us to feel worthy of your grace and love.

We pray that we can build each other up in your love Lord, not knock each other down based on societies shallow expectations.

You saved us – may we never forget your amazing grace. Amen.

Lee Battle, Wilbraham St Ninians/ Metropolitan Church

Saturday, 8 March

Saturday, 8 March 2014

I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession saying, ‘Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love with those who love you and keep your commandments, we have sinned and done wrong, acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and ordinances.’  Daniel 9.4-5

You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.  James 5.6 

The book of Daniel was probably written in the 2^nd century BCE and was written for the people of the day.  It is thought to be an apocalyptic book, meaning ‘unveiling’ in Greek. In the book, Daniel is praying to God. He talks about the prophecy by Jeremiah that Jerusalem would experience 70 years of desolation, and these verses are part of a prayer of confession on behalf of the people of Israel who have sinned against God. Daniel reminds the people of God’s covenant made with Noah (Genesis Chp 9), which must be renewed in every generation. James, too, about 250 years later, reminds the early Christians that they have sinned and that such sins have contributed to Jesus’ dying for us. 

These days, we often find it difficult to concentrate on our sins and the way in which those sins have hurt God and our world. Maybe that is because it seems difficult for us to relate to the huge responsibility of the way in which our materialism leads to huge inequalities in our world. Even less do we find it easy to identify with the misuse of power which brings about war and inhumanity to others. It might be more helpful if this Lent we can think about any way in which our insensitivity to others has hurt those around us. We might challenge ourselves to do something positive to do something about this.

Lesley and Maurice Husselbee, Chorlton Central

Friday, 7 March

 ‘And they read from the book, from the law of God, clearly; and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.’

Nehemiah 8:8

 Jesus says....“David himself calls him Lord; so how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly. Mark 12:37

At first sight these readings do not have very much in common. The passage from Nehemiah concerns the return of many Jewish people from Babylon, where they had been in exile for 50 years. Nehemiah saw it as his task to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and the temple itself. The passage we have here comes at a point where the Jewish people are gathered together and the Book of the Law is being read, and explained to them. The aim is of a renewed and shared commitment to living as people under God’s rule.

Jesus, by contrast, seems to be calling into question a belief that had grown out of the faithful reading and interpretation of scripture: that a great redeemer was to come out of Israel, and that he would be a descendant of King David. Jesus also makes his point through referring to, and interpreting the words of scripture, in this case Ps 110.

In the first passage we see the seeking of clarity, in the second, the raising of questions. In reading the Bible text, we, too, might seek the first, but encounter the second. The lesson we can take from this, perhaps, is that scripture needs to be approached with care and humility: what we learn is always provisional.

Loving God, as we seek you through your Word, help us to be open to new possibility and challenge. Amen

S Rowe

Chorlton/Manley Park Methodist Church

Thursday, 6 March

Let all who seek you / rejoice and be glad in you.
Let those who love your salvation / say evermore, ‘God is great!’ Psalm 70:4

Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God. Luke 18:42-43

Here we find two texts inviting us to rejoice, to praise and glorify God and to receive the benefits of faith.  But are we not weighed down with the cares of the world, climate change, political unrest, wars, hunger, poverty, sickness, family and personal problems?   

Psalm 70 begins in a gloomy mood, invoking God’s help with particular troubles, and then in verse 4 (above), even before this help is forthcoming, speaks of rejoicing and love and praise. The blind man at Jericho follows Jesus calling after him for help, clearly in the expectation that this apparently impossible help is coming and he is not disappointed.  Jesus tells him that it is because of his faith.  The former blind man praises God, not alone but joined by all who have seen what happened.

So let us

• Rejoice and be glad in anticipation of God’s goodness
• Pray in faith and with expectation
• Praise God together, in community, rejoicing in the blessings that we have received even as we continue to pray in faith for God’s help with on-going problems.

Dear Lord,

We rejoice in those memories of past blessings……….

We rejoice in the knowledge that, whether we feel it or not, you are with us in the present helping us now, sometimes in the most unexpected of ways………

We rejoice that you have given us to one another for help and support………

We rejoice!  Thanks be to God!

Kay Khan, St Werburgh’s

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday, 5 March 2014

They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you. – Jeremiah 1:19

And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. – Mark 11:18

Change can be very frightening. The chief priests and scribes had realised that Jesus teaching would turn the world they knew upside down. They were trying their best to preserve the faith that had been handed down to them; the faith which their forefathers had faithfully preserved before them. They were caught between a rock and a hard place trying to appease the Roman occupiers and to maintain their authority from the many challenges within. But as fear grips them they are not able to see that there is liberation in this teaching which does not cling on to earthly powers. Jeremiah’s task was similar to that of Jesus. His preaching was going to cause offence because it challenged the status quo; his words were going to challenge those in power.

Fear has two sides. It can be debilitating when it overwhelms us to the extent that we are unable to hope. The priests and scribes were unable to accept change which might bring in a better understanding to follow the Law of Moses.

However, knowing that what we fear most might happen can let us focus on hope. Jeremiah knew that the fall of Jerusalem would be inevitable if the hubris of the court would be left unchallenged. Jesus knew that he had to face his final journey to Jerusalem. As we enter Lent, will we be able open ourselves to be challenged? Can we reimagine our relationship with God? Hopefully, we will be able to use our fear to focus on renewing our trust in God, and the redemption he offers us.

Loving God, give us open hearts and minds to be challenged in all those things we hold dear which might hold us from loving you. Amen.

James Grant, 

St Clement’s/St Werburgh’s