On perseverance

Man, it's been a while.

I blame moving house, clearing the garden of jungleness, and general life-busyness.

How are things with God? Pretty good on this side of the fence - Easter is a good time to reflect on stuff...both the power and the humility of Christ.

In Hebrews, the writer (because no-one alive today knows who wrote it...it probably wasn't Paul. Ask Jessica for more) talks about Jesus being foreordained to 'bring many sons [and daughters] to glory'. This means it was always in the offing - when Jesus prays to God in the garden {see any of the Gospels. Or all four!}, asking God to take the cup from him, Jesus got silence. Ouch.

So here's my thoughts on perseverance coming from this passage, found in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, John 18.

The long and the short of it is that God doesn't always answer prayer straight away. Or at all. Sometimes, it can seem like he's not there.

Point 1) God is omnipresent - He IS there, He IS listening.

One thing to think about here is is what I am asking in line with the will of God and his revealed nature (found in the Bible). So if you're praying to win the lottery, and that you'll give some money to the church or the poor...don't expect an answer. Did you know that if you buy your ticket at 7.30pm on the night of the draw, statistically you're more likely to die before the draw than win the jackpot.

So why did Jesus ask God to take this punishment away from him? Well mostly because it would involve separation from God, and a LOT of pain. But God had His plan...and the outplaying of that mean a lot for you and for me...if we put our faith in that plan.

Point 2) Works without faith is dead.

So yes, that's the wrong way around. But it's also true. Try all you might to get into heaven - if the Muslims are right and it's a straightforward case of good outweighing bad and BINGO! You're in...how many bad things have you done? Have you read the Old Testament?

Did you know that a woman is unclean for a week after giving birth to a boy? And she can't be purified for another 33 days - no church, no touching sacred things...And if it's a girl, you can double those numbers! As part of the purification ritual, she has to make a sin offering - that's the inevitability of sin, that even in bringing forth new life it happens. [Check out Leviticus 14 if you fancy a laugh]

Rant over - but you just can't win. Faith in God is the only way. Do you believe in what Jesus did? Jesus was separated from God, didn't hear from Him, was painfully aware of this absence...for you and me.

Put your faith in this, and earnestly seek after God.

Point 3) Don't give up.

A great Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush song, but also the conclusion of this message.

Back in the garden and in Matthew 26:36-46. Jesus prays once. Goes back and the lazy gets are asleep! To Peter: "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

Prays again - no answer from God, but he knows God's heart. goes back and the lazy gets are asleep again! Probably stayed up all night playing Fifa 32AD or something. He doesn't even bother waking them this time, and goes off and prays the same prayer again.

Then he comes back and takes them off to meet Judas.

Conclusion 1) Why is Jesus awake and the disciples asleep? Jesus is probably bricking it. He knows what's coming, so uses the time to pray and commune with God. Here's an idea - use dead time to talk to God. I do it on the drive to work, and I've not crashed yet... Can't sleep? God's still up.

Conclusion 2) Jesus doesn't get an answer from God, but he knows the answer. Prayers 2 & 3 are more resigned. How does Jesus know this? Other than omnipotence, he knows God's will for his life. So let's learn God's will for our lives - the Bible is the only written guarantee of this, so get it out, and read it daily. But listening to wise people talking, and reading wise books is a good companion too.

Conclusion 3) Jesus seeks solace in the company of others. He takes the disciples out, and then takes a little clique of three out further. If you need encouragement, talk to a friend (or me...or Jessica, or Aileen, or whoever), if you need prayer, do the same. If you need someone to hang out with, there's plenty of people around who don't even need the excuse of talking about Jesus to lure them into a coffee shop...

So there we go. Hope that was coherent and useful. And my Easter resolution (can you make those) is to be blogging more (and possibly shorter) from now on!