Weekly Reflection

 

March 1st to 7th

Lent 2

Following Christ and Future Glory

 

Readings: Psalm 121; John 3.1–17

 

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains –

    where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

    the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip –

    he who watches over you will not slumber;

4 indeed, he who watches over Israel

    will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord watches over you –

    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

6 the sun will not harm you by day,

    nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all harm –

    he will watch over your life;

8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going

    both now and for evermore.

 

1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.’

3 Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’

4 ‘How can someone be born when they are old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!’

5 Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.” 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’

9 ‘How can this be?’ Nicodemus asked.

10 ‘You are Israel’s teacher,’ said Jesus, ‘and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.’

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

 

Psalm 121 is pure encouragement when we are doing our best to follow Jesus; this psalm is a wonderful advocate of the benefits of R&R when resting in the Lord.  When we are working hard for the Kingdom, here is a psalm that shouts, “Rest for a while and enjoy just being with Me.”

 

Jesus regularly took time to be alone with His Father, and time spent in quiet prayer is very positive; this builds us up spiritually and gives us strength to keep going; strength to face our next challenge – this is Lent, after all.

 

In the reading from John, Jesus discusses re-birth.  In the Anglican Church, in the Confirmation service the Bishop lays his hands on each one of us to impart the Holy Spirit; other churches may have different rituals for the same effect.  Some caveats, however:

 

A Confirrnee may possibly not have been spiritually mature enough at the time of their Confirmation.  For example I went to a Christian secondary school, and being confirmed in one’s 3rd Year was almost a rite of passage.

 

The second feature is that one’s faith can fade, and more input from God is needed.  I drifted in my teens; I was still a practising Christian but it did not really come from the heart.

 

I was in my 30s and married, when God spoke very clearly through specific events; He called us both while we were on a camping holiday, to re-commit.  We joined a House Group and later we were both baptised by immersion; that was when it became solidly true for both of us.

 

Of course, for many people their spiritual commitment is solid and real enough from Confirmation, not to need that extra phase – praise God for His blessing on you.  It doesn’t matter by what straight or circuitous route you come to true faith; what matters is that you come.

 

So why do I go through all of this detail?

 

The point at issue is that our Confirmation, Believer’s Baptism, or other ritual that is true for each of us within our own church style, is intended to be our own individual Pentecost; through this ritual we receive our personal impartation of the Holy Spirit.  This would be accompanied by a glimpse of God’s glory, our glory to come at the end of time when Jesus returns and gathers every Christian to be with Him.  A fleeting glimpse perhaps, but nonetheless real.  We hope to see more glimpses of glory as we then continue to work out our Chriastian life.

 

There is still a difficulty; as human beings we are leaky vessels – the Holy Spirit leaks away from us and we need to top Him up regularly in daily prayer.

 

The easiest way to do this is to pray:

 

Come, Holy Spirit

 

Note that Luke 11:13 says that God will give us the Holy Spirit if we ask Him.

 

So as Christian believers we can have the Holy Spirit, in us.  During this Lent, we pray Lord for your Spirit’s guidance; we pray that you will draw each of us closer to the person you want us to become.

 

Lord Jesus, we come to you with all our failings and shortcomings and we lay them at your feet.  We long to draw closer to you, to become your faithful servants, ready to do your Will.  Guide us Lord as we continue in our Lenten observances.  Fill us Lord with your Holy Spirit and help us to balance the tasks we are doing for you, with time out just to rest in your presence.  In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.