Saturday 9 November 2024

Psalm 32

Background
Our journey this week has led us through an exploration of belief, faith and trust. We began the journey on All Saints’ Sunday, recalling heroes of the faith – both historic saints and ordinary believers – who have inspired us.

We have recognised, though, that sometimes living the life of faith can be a challenge. God's light that leads us on can sometimes be hard to find. Sometimes we hide it, other times we simply are inundated by life’s ways. To live the human life is to deal with trial, tribulation and trauma so often. Having faith is choosing to live in the light of the gospel, the good news of our being held in God’s love and grace.

There is no shortage of light, love and grace – but sometimes our failure to perceive, accept and trust makes difficulties for ourselves. In Wednesday's reading (Mark 4:35-41) the disciples in the boat demonstrate their humanity and share our fickleness. Even when Jesus calls for calm and the storm in stilled, they remain sceptical.

There are people we have considered this week who give us encouragement towards belief, greater faith and trust in God. One is Jairus, who is willing to trust Jesus and risk his reputation as the leader of the synagogue for the sake of his sick daughter. (5:21-43) Another is the haemorrhaging woman, willing to risk public rejection and ridicule in order to encounter the healing touch of Christ. (5:24-34) Even the demons who possessed a man know Jesus and acknowledge his power. (5:1-20)

So what is wrong with us that we struggle with believing in Jesus? And not just us. Does familiarity dull the sense of expectation? Jesus, going to his home town, can do nothing spectacular, “except he laid hands on a few people and healed them”. (v. 5)

Except he laid hands on a few people and healed them. Was that nothing? What were the people expecting? What are we expecting when we find ourselves in the presence of the living God? Are we, like the people of Jesus' home town, looking in the wrong place and expecting the wrong thing? Is the Church acting like them too, deriding the mission and ministry that's going on? Are we rejecting the prophet? Will it be that Jesus, amazed at our unbelief, walks out of our midst to do great things, without us, in other places?

To Ponder:

• Think about a mission project of your local church, or a community project known to you. Light a candle and sit in quiet, reflecting upon how God’s Kingdom is brought close through that work. Give thanks to God that there are still people who respond to the call to engage with human need.
• If you belong to a church, think about the manner in which it engages with mission and ministry to your neighbourhood. Do we ever experience rejection by the communities that know us? What are the impediments to mission and ministry?

Bible notes author: The Revd Dr Adrian Burdon
Adrian Burdon is Superintendent Minister of the Telford Circuit in the Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury District. He has been a presbyter since 1988 and, in addition to Shropshire, has worked in the Oldham Circuit, on the Fylde coast, in Leeds city centre, the Northeast of England and as a mission partner in the South Pacific. Adrian is Chair of the CTBI writing group which writes material for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and is Chair of the Connexional Liturgy and Worship Subcommittee of the Faith and Order Committee.