Sadly, and unfortunately, we often fall into two traps when it comes to prayer. Either we figure that the need, the request, is too small to ‘bother’ God with it, and so we don’t take it to God. Or, we figure that it is ‘too big’, too immense--like world hunger or world peace or global warming--for God to ‘handle’, and so, once again, we don’t go to God with it.

That said, we also can have some qualms or misconceptions with regards to prayer, which is what today’s meditation is all about. Hopefully, then, what I have said will be of help or inspiration to you.

Someone--I think it was a bishop--once said, ‘You may be the only Jesus Christ that some people will ever meet.’ By that, he wasn’t meaning that any of us was ‘literally’ Jesus, but that we, by our words and actions, were living out His life, embodying Jesus, to a waiting and watching and needy world. I don’t know about you, but I found that thought to be rather challenging. Repeatedly, I have had to ask myself, ‘Do my attitudes, my words, my actions really show forth Jesus? Or, do they show forth something else, something much less than the Good News I’m supposed to be proclaiming? Anyway, there’s something to think about.

There is something so very homey, so very familiar and lovely about today's scene--Jesus on the seashore, the original barbecuer, inviting His friends to join Him for an outdoor breakfast. There is something so very attractive about this--probably because it evokes memories for us, and probably because it reminds us of how we ‘want to feel at home’ with God and with the universe in general. To me, it reminds me that we can always ‘come home’ to God, regardless of how our day has gone, or indeed, what we have or have not done with our lives. Jesus is always ‘on the seashore’ of our lives, inviting us to join Him and be fed by Him--and simply, to enjoy His company.

Thinking back over the years, I recall just how excited my boys were to have the chance to bring something to school for their ‘show and tell.’ And, I recall how interested the children were in telling their stories--sometimes embarrassingly so--at the Children’s Story part of Sunday worship.

And so, here, I must wonder: why are we adults so loath, so hesitant, in telling others of the best news possible, the Good News of our Saviour Jesus Christ? Have we lost that freshness or that childlike enthusiasm? Or, as ‘grown ups’, are now ‘gotten past’ the childish delight of our earlier years? Are we embarrassed by it? Funny thing: we don’t seem to have lost that same enthusiasm for other things, like curling or hockey or football. Funny thing, that. So, maybe we can, and should be, a bit more excited about Jesus and what He means to us. Anyway, there’s a thought, something to ponder.

Today I’m reminded sharply about how we need to trust, not in our own understandings or opinions or attitudes--all of these can be warped or erroneous or limited--but simply in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And likewise, not to depend upon or trust in the ‘familiar’ or the comfortable or the ‘known’, as these too can be, and often are, far less than what God wants for us or for His world. After all, we pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Let us, each of us, be an embodiment and fulfilment of that prayer, this day and everyday.

In his Pentecost sermon, the apostle Peter exhorts the assembled crowd to save themselves from ‘this perverse and unjust generation’, or, to put in the words of the Message translation, ‘this sick and stupid culture’. Doesn’t this sound just like our world, our culture, our generation. Just glance at the headlines for a moment and you’ll see what I mean: invasions and sabre rattling, gun and stab wounds and other violence, political infighting and nastiness, online theft and hacking and espionage, and then, just the general unsettledness and dis-ease and lack of civility that we experience everywhere. This is not a very pleasant world. No wonder we are to flee from it. And, no wonder that we are called to call others to do so as well. There is good news out there, good news in contrast to the ‘bad news’ of our world, and that good news is Jesus. Being rooted in Him means a better perspective than what our world gives and a great hope and a stronger resilience. This is what we have and what we call others to become part of.

Yesterday, years ago, was the day that changed history. Nothing would ever be the same after that first Easter Day. Of course, some people back then didn’t want any change, especially any change to their lives. They wanted their lives to go on being the same, day after day. And certainly, the same could be said of certain people today.

However, we who have met and come to know the risen Lord Jesus Christ have experienced something of that ‘changed life’, and have discovered that it is nothing like the life without Christ, or without the power of His resurrection. My prayer is that we may so live that new and glorious life that others may see it and be attracted to it, and that, thereby, we may have the opening, the opportunity, to tell them more about it. Who knows: they might actually risk making that change--allowing that change--and discover that renewed and glorious life for themselves. That is my hope and dream.

Sometimes a person, or a church, gets the accolades from the strangest or most unexpected places. A number of years ago the pastor of a prominent evangelical, non-liturgical church told me of something that he really applauded within our Anglican Church, something that he felt was sadly lacking in his own. It was in the church season that we know as ‘Easter’, the section of the year that begins with Easter Sunday and continues right through to Pentecost, five weeks in total. What he appreciated about this was that it gives the Church a chance to ‘unpack’ all that Easter (and Good Friday) mean to us, all the implications of those events in our daily lives as Christians. What he felt was far too often in his church was that people celebrated Easter for a few hours that Easter morning, and then went home to their ham dinners and forgot about the rest.

Well, today’s Scripture lesson and meditation do a bit of that ‘unpacking’ for us. I hope you find them stimulating and helpful.

It is rather easy to get frustrated and discouraged, especially when things are difficult or we have problems in our lives. And then, of course, it doesn’t help even one iota when most of the news that comes across to us seems to be nothing but dismal in their prospects. Most assuredly, that is how the first disciples felt on this particular day in history, on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. All their world had come crashing down around them and there seemed to be no hope, no hope at all. And yet, what we know in hindsight, is that all this was not ‘the end of the story.’ God had something more in mind, something better, and that is the promise--and the reality--for us as well.

So much that any one of us does in life is actually a reaction, a reaction to something rather external that was said or done in the media or the news or on the ‘wider screen', or something that has happened to us personally. And sadly, far too often, because of whatever that was, our reaction will be on the negative side.

But on this day in church history, Good Friday, let us look on the positive side, at something that seemed terrible at the time but turned out to be for ‘our good’, namely Jesus’ death upon the Cross. Because of that, we now have free and unfettered access to the Father and have a new freedom and courage in the way we live our lives. And so, what should our reactions be to such good news? On the one hand, it should usher forth into renewed praise of God and a strengthened faith in Him. And, on the other hand, we should live with each other in an entirely different way--no infighting or selfishness, but instead caring for each other and trying to help each other and encouraging each other in the best way we can. That Christ has set us free and forgiven us, through no ‘fault of our own’, means that we can do the same with each other. We no longer have to ‘earn approval’ or jockey for position for we are approved in Christ Jesus and have an already exalted position as His sons and daughters. And so, that should dictate just what our reaction will be, to Him, to each other, and to life in general

The degree and extent of Jesus’ trust in His Father never fails to impress and astound me. (I mean, I am sure that I would ‘cave in’ under the pressure far before the end, and give up on God--and Jesus never did. I think of the Last Supper, which we commemorate today, where Jesus stood face to face with His betrayer, predicted this heinous act, and even ‘let him go’ to carry it out. Or, I think of Jesus’ time in the Garden of Gethsemane, also tonight. He was under such strain, such pressure and difficulty, that the blood vessels in his forehead actually burst as He wrestled with God concerning God’s will for His life. Jesus knew fully well, from actual observation, what a crucifixion was like and it repelled Him. That, and knowing that for the first time in His life, He would feel a distance, a separation from God, something which we know all too well, but which Jesus had never known. That He could still say ‘yes’ to God, and still believe that God was working through this and had a future for Him, is well beyond my imagination--or my ability. There is so much here to be astonished at, and to praise God for.

If you are at all like me, there are times in life when you feel like you could use any or all encouragement that could possibly come your way. In today’s Scripture and meditation we talk about just that in two ways, about how our predecessors in the faith are watching and waiting and rooting for us, and how the steadfast and dedicated life of Jesus also offers us some encouragement. I hope these examples are of help to you, as they are to me.

This week, being Holy Week, is an ideal time to reflect on just how much God loves us and just what extreme lengths He went in order to demonstrate and carry out that love, even to the extent of going to the Cross for us. Today’s Scripture passage, and, even more, my meditation, try to uncover for us what that has meant to us in practical terms.

Here is a thousand-dollar question for each of us: how do we respond to the things happening around us? Do we respond with dismay or anger or fear or anxiety or dismay or upset of some other sort? Or do we respond with prayer, asking God to show us how He is at work in the situation and to show us how we might be of use in that situation either to help Him or to help others--which amount to the same thing. A woman I once met never once tuned into a television newscast without a notebook and pen or pencil in hand, simply to jot down the headline in order to take it to the Lord in prayer. It would seem that this would be a great practice for each of us.

Today is known in church circles as ‘the Sunday of the Passion’ or “Palm Sunday.’ Contrary to popular, widespread usage, the word ‘passion’ as used here does not mean something like ‘heavy desire’ or such like, but rather ‘suffering’. Thus most of the Scripture selections appointed for today all touch on the suffering of Jesus in some way or other, and even the Palm Sunday account foreshadows and sets the scene for Good Friday and the Cross. As a youngster I once asked my parish priest why Good Friday was called ‘good’, when there was nothing ‘good’ about it, especially for Jesus. He replied that it was ‘good’ because Jesus died for our sins on that day. However, at that point in my life, I didn’t ‘get it.’ I didn’t see ‘the rest of the story.’

The ‘rest of the story’ is something that is touched on in our reading and meditation from Isaiah, namely how something so horrific and shameful as Jesus’ suffering and death could be turned into something glorious--through Jesus’ resurrection. Our sins were indeed cancelled out, forgiven and forgotten, and the hold of Satan and sin and shame and guilt and death over us was broken forever. It was indeed the precursor to something that ‘was’ good, after all.

Today’s Scripture passage and meditation raise a very good question, namely, how do we, each of us, respond to God when ‘the cards are down’, when ‘the tire hits the road’, when God seems to disappoint us. Surely Mary was upset with Jesus in terms of Jesus’ initial response to the illness of her brother Lazarus, but she got over it. (Some people don’t!) Furthermore, she showed her love and gratitude in a rather ‘over-the-top’ way. But then, by way of contrast, how did Judas respond? Surely he had experienced Jesus’ great love and seen that love in action, but his response went in an entirely different direction. So, what about us?

I say that, not in any academic sense, but in reality. For years, I harboured a ‘yes, but’ attitude towards God. "I will follow you and trust you, but only as long as certain things don’t happen in my life. If those things happen, then all the bets are off. I will be convinced that you are not really there for me.” But then, something even worse happened. And, what did I discover? That God was there for me even more than I could have expected or imagined. Even so, there had been that earlier hesitancy. I can’t help but wonder if that ‘yes, but’ attitude was also present in Judas. There have been other examples of seemingly sincere, committed followers of Jesus turning away from, so Judas would not be either the first or the last. Anyway, it is important that it not happen to us. May our ‘yes’ to Him be total and unwavering, regardless of takes place in our lives.

While I am absolutely convinced that God does indeed speak to His people--and to others as well--I am more and more concerned with how we listen and how we come to a consensus on what God is saying to us. I say this because, all too often--for me at least--what comes across the message for our times seems coloured by the views of a particular interest group, or by what will win votes or stoke international praise and popularity, or by what fits in with what everyone else is doing, or by what is politically correct, or by what won’t antagonize someone or offend their sensibilities. To me, none of these is any guarantee or indication that this is what God wants us to hear or respond to.

It is here that what our passage from Jeremiah has some relevance, when it tells us to listen to other voices--not necessarily the ones that are clamouring to be heard, and when it tells us to learn from history, the history of the church and world, but more importantly, the history of God’s dealings with humankind as found in the Bible. I am convinced that we need to do this collectively, to do this together.

I guess that I hadn’t really thought about it previously in much detail, just how wonderful our Saviour Jesus Christ is to us. However, if you have missed it, as I obviously had, today’s Scripture and meditation lay it out in great deal--just how close He is to us and how understanding, how careful in His daily interactions, and how committed, even to the point of death, He is to our ultimate well-being. What a Saviour! Wow.