Dear All,
As the Autumn progresses, we enter a season of remembering and thanksgiving, firstly All Saints Day, and then Remembrance Sunday next week, which will feel so different this year, with our inability to gather outside for civic events.
All Saints Day is when we remember that we are part of a multitude of faithful men and women through whom God has built his church, and we give thanks for them. These are ‘all the saints’, not just the special high-profile ones, but everyone who has ever believed in Jesus down through the centuries. At this time of isolation, especially with the news that Leeds is now in Tier 3, I find it both incredible and comforting to think that there is this connection between people of Christian faith, in person now, across the generations, and in the spiritual realms. We are not alone, even if we are physically alone at the moment. We are part of that vast cloud of witnesses that we read about in Hebrews chapter 12. So this is a season in which to be confident, spurred on in our faith by the example of those who have gone before us, and giving thanks for them. This might also be a good time to reflect with thankfulness on those who brought us to faith, who prayed for us faithfully, nurtured us in Christian faith, and embodied that welcome into God’s family that we hear about in Sunday’s readings.
Our first reading, 1 John 3.1-3 is one of my favourites…..’how great is the love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God!’ There’s a wonderful sense of belonging, of coming home, that we can all be part of God’s family because of the generous love of God poured out on us. We are meant to live in this sort of family relationship, in community with each other and with our heavenly Father. It’s how we are wired, and this is why it can feel so desolate when we are isolated from community, unable to see each other in person, to express signs of love and affection, or to enjoy spending time together in the way that a healthy family should.
So how do we hold on with hope at this time? One verse that has given me a lot of comfort in recent times is Jeremiah 29.11, written at a time of exile, when people were living in strange and uncertain times, far from home, not unlike how many of us feel at the moment. God says to his people that he has plans to give them a future and a hope, and I believe that we can hold on to that today also, because God’s nature is that he is for us, and can be trusted. Earlier in this passage God says that they are to settle and to seek the peace and prosperity of the place where they are now, even if it is not home, for in doing that they too will be blessed. So I believe we are to seek the peace and prosperity of the situation we find ourselves in now, asking God to come into it in our prayers, and trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit to be at work through it all. I wonder who you could pray for this week, and who you could encourage with a word of appreciation? And let’s look out for those who will be finding this season of remembering especially difficult.
A Prayer (Niteblessings)
May God steady your soul.
When you feel like things are out of balance, and you do not know what to do,
may your soul be stilled, your heart quietened, and your fears allayed by the promise of God your creator. Amen.
With grace and peace,
Sue McWhinney
sue@stjohnsfarsley.org.uk
07484 181699