Someone--I think that it was Mark Twain--once said, “It isn’t the parts of the Bible that I don’t understand that trouble me, but the parts that I do (understand)”. He may have said that as a skeptic or unbeliever--I just don’t know--but many Christians might well say the same. There may well be parts of the Bible that they fully understand that trouble them. And trouble them to the point, that they don’t want to listen to what it says, and don’t want to obey it either. But that doesn’t stop God from being the One who is ultimate in charge, or from being the One who loves us enough to give us specific instructions and commands for our own good. Those are the underlying messages of today’s passage regardless of what else you might or might not get from it.

The testing that is allowed of us by divine permission has often been described as a kind of purification, as a kind of a refiner’s fire. The story is told of a pastor who once was given a tour of a silver refining facility. The operator of the fiery furnace where the silver was treated explained that the purpose of the heat and flame is to bring to the surface any impurities that might be present, where at the surface they might be skimmed off and removed for good. The pastor then asked, “When do you know that the process is complete?, to which the operator said, “When I can see my face on its surface.”

That sounds a lot like our Lord and us: He desires us to be so purified, so refined, that He can see His image, His likeness, His character, in us. And he uses life’s testing as one of the processes to achieve this.

In today’s passage from Ephesians the apostle Paul extolls the reconciling power of Christ and His death and resurrection, and while this is undoubtedly true in terms of reconciling God and us, his words about human reconciliation have all-too-frequently not come to pass. Relations between Jew and Gentile, or more accurately, Jew and Christian, over the course of history have often been troubled. Much of that had nothing to do with God but with our own ingrown human prejudices, histories and aspirations--and, far too often politics have entered in the picture and stoked and fed off fears and misconceptions.

Today our world is even more wrought with divisions and tensions and has become even more polarized--if that be possible. Sometimes one has to wonder where they can even be a middle ground, a meeting place of the various sides or viewpoints. Anyway, the peace that Jesus promised, and that Paul spoke of, is even more needed. And where it starts is with God and us, and then with others. Firstly, are we right with God, living in relationship with Him, and trying to follow and obey Him? And secondly, are we living with others in ways that are loving, respectful and genuinely caring in practical ways? Yes, that old hymn is right on: “Let there be peace on earth...and let it begin with me.”

One of the frequent corruptions or mistakes in the Christian way of life is the ‘me and Jesus’ attitude. It is an attitude that all that matters is our own personal relationship with Jesus. As long as we can be with Him, know Him, worship Him, love Him, obey Him, nothing else matters--and no one else matters, either. We can safely be Christians entirely on our own, with no fellowship, no corporate worship or study, no interaction with other believers who can be pretty difficult to take at time: just me and the Lord. But Jesus didn’t call us to that. He called us to be in community, to be disciples together, to be part of a team that works and serves together. And seeing that none of us has ‘turned out’ quite the way we could be, we will almost inevitably grate on each other’s nerves from time to time. But that is exactly how our Lord has designed and willed it. Herein is our love tested--and refined, gradually shaping us into His own image and character.

That teamwork, that serving together, is something that the apostle Paul knew all so well, and used and gloried in. May we, you and I, do the same.

What does it mean to ‘praise the Lord’? In church circles and in the context of public worship we use that expression a great deal. But what does it mean in practical terms? In our everyday lives? These are the kinds of questions that I have tried to address in today’s meditation. I hope you find it helpful--and stimulating.

Today’s reading and meditation pick up on the story of one of my favourite saints, St. John the Baptist. Humanly speaking he has to be one of the most remarkable people of all time. Not only was he willing to give his life over to carrying out God’s mission of preparing the way for the Messiah, he was also quite willing and able to stand in Jesus’ limelight and see Jesus get the glory and praise. In fact, he was even able to see some of his own disciples drift away and join Jesus. As he remarked once, about himself and Jesus: “he must needs increase and I must decrease.’ That takes a ‘real man’ to be able to say and do that, to be such a wiling signpost that he was willing to point beyond himself to Jesus. Most of us would be all too glad to have some of that glory, that increase, for ourselves. So, my prayer is that we, you and I, could be more like John: to always point beyond ourselves, to Jesus, the only one that can truly save or help anyone.

Something that we continually need to remind ourselves about is that God is incredible, simply incredible. As we see in Psalm 18, the future King David, when harassed and continually on the run from a very determined King Saul, still knew that he could always depend upon God. And Jesus, when helpless and in agony on the Cross--and seemingly without any foreseeable hope or future--could still turn His life over to Him, confident that God was there for Him, even in the midst of this.

So, we too, who are seldom in any sort of similar extremity, we can go to God, ask for His help, and know that He is there and ready to help us in our time of need.

During the worst period of the COVID-19 pandemic, and thereafter, the medical profession came under a great deal of fire. There were accusations that the advice they gave was conflicting, not consistent over time, and even dictated, not by medical science per se, but by political or other considerations. However, it has to be said that it was in brand-new territory with a moving and uncertain target. They really didn’t know either what they were dealing with or what would work. Their knowledge was continually evolving and had to be updated. Even so, I think that it is fair to say that it did the best they could with the information at hand.

Interestingly, some of those who were especially sceptical about the medical profession were avowed Christians, Bible-believing Christians. This is rather surprising as Jesus Himself, that is, God--plus the early church--relied on some of the medical practices of His day, using things like mud and spittle and olive oil to affect healing. He made the best use of the medicine and techniques of His day, and then added ‘His own touch’, prayer. Today’s reading, while not from canonical Scripture, offers the same advice: use the best of the medical practices and meditations at hand, and then, pray to God as well. God is at work in these, its author says, so don’t despise or neglect them. It is good advice for us today as well. Medicine is an inexact science, always growing and changing, but it is the best we have. And, besides, it is something that God blesses and uses. Thanks be to God.

I don’t know about you, but from time to time I experience swings of emotion, sometimes pretty strong ones, that surprise me, and on occasion, even frighten me. At the time, I wonder about myself, especially being a priest, and wonder whether I should be experiencing them. But then I come to the psalms and discover that there are some of those very same emotions expressed there, but expressed safely and privately, to God no less. In other words, not ‘out there’ where they could do untold harm, and not in any physical way either. And what I realize thereby, is that God wants us to share these feelings, whether seemingly good or bad in our eyes, so that He can help us deal with them and comfort us in our anguish and upset. It seems to me that this is needed even more these days!

It is sad to say, but unfortunately, there are often tensions within the Body of Christ, the Church. Indeed, this was the presenting problem with the ancient Christian church in Corinth. There were rivalries and factions, some claiming to be friends of Peter, some with Apollos, and with some of them--as a kind of one-upmanship, claiming to be friends of Christ. And then, some of them, especially those special knowledge or certain spiritual gifts, thought that they were superior to others--and acted like this. And, others believed them!

The apostle Paul tries to put all this bickering and comparisons to rest by asserting that in the Body of Christ, the Church, everyone has a place and everyone is important and needed. And, as I have suggested in my meditation, this isn’t a problem just for people back then, but also for our church of today as well.

Today’s psalm points an incredible and lovely picture, a dream perhaps, namely of people living in peace, unity and harmony. But is it ‘just’ a dream. It is certainly something that Jesus desired, and prayed for just before His death (see John 17:11). And so, it has to be more than just a pipe-dream, a futile but xx wish, but something that He actually believes is possible. And, hopefully, it isn’t just something that happens when He returns in glory, for He tells us that the ‘world’ will see our unity and come to believe through it (see John 17:21). So, how is it that this will happen? And, perhaps more importantly for us, how do we assist it in happening? I think that it is something that we will all have to wrestle with, seeing as I don’t have an answer for this.

Almost always, in his letters, the apostle Paul seems to yoke together two things, two things that we might well fall into the trap of separating. One of these two things relates to our relationship with God--and how we honour, obey, serve and love Him. The other has to do with our relationships with each other, with our fellow believers in the Body of Christ, the Church and how we treat them and show them honour and respect and love. Paul insists that they belong together and that, indeed, our love for God is reflected and portrayed in the ways that we treat each other. Indeed, Paul says that we should honour and respect them and put them first, ahead of our own desires and plans and agendas. This makes it rather difficult for us as there will inevitably be people within the Church that rub us the wrong way, that we have difficulty in treating quite so amicably and respectfully. But, then, whoever said that the Christian way of life is necessarily easy?