This is my body

Holy Week: Maundy Thursday

Reading

Luke 22.14-20
When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Reflection

It seems almost unbelievable to me that there is any part of this week that Jesus ‘eagerly desired’ – but those are the exact words he uses when speaking of his last supper. He actively wanted to share this experience with his disciples And, through the taking of communion in our own churches and communities, with us too. 

All over the world, and for centuries gone by, people have eaten bread and drunk wine ‘in remembrance’ of this meal, this week, this saviour.

Isn’t that amazing? Jesus has transformed billions of strangers into one family, held together by the ‘new covenant’ that he died to give us.

Easter happened for you and it happened for me – but it also happened for us. The victory is, ultimately, collective.

Challenge

In the three days that are to come – the tough and the triumphant – remind yourself that you do not mourn, nor celebrate them alone. You and I, we’ve been brought into a family larger than we could fathom.

Earth-shaking

Holy Week: Good Friday

Reading

Matthew 27.45-54
From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, ‘This man is calling for Elijah.’ At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.’ Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’

Reflection

There’s something so powerful about the way that the natural world seemed to physically react to the death of Jesus: ‘from noon on, darkness came over the whole land… The earth shook, and the rocks were split’. 

What happened – on that day, on that hill – has repercussions that span all of time and space.

Jesus, who was there at the creation of our world, had just been killed upon it. I’m just awed at the idea that creation told humanity the magnitude of what had just happened. It truly speaks of Jesus’ might and majesty, doesn’t it?

So powerful was creation’s response to the death of its creator, it transformed the guards’ idea of who Jesus truly was – convincing them that he was, in fact, who he said he was: ‘God’s Son!’.

Challenge

This Friday, on the surface, doesn’t feel very ‘good’ at all, does it? Yet, we know that it is. Let’s pray an incredibly simple, yet powerful, prayer today:
‘God, would you remind me why this
Friday is, in fact, very good?’

Changing direction

Week 5: Thursday

Reading

Luke 19.1-10
He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycomore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’

Reflection

A joyful surprise can sometimes mean our priorities suddenly shift. 

This is what happened when Zacchaeus met Jesus. Zacchaeus was unpopular for collecting tax on behalf of the Romans. The fact that he was probably collecting a bit extra for himself only made things worse. But something prompts him to try and get a glimpse of Jesus. And Jesus surprises him by coming round to his house for a meal.

We’re not told that Jesus gave any instructions to Zacchaeus about what he should do next. All we know is that, after spending time with Jesus, Zacchaeus found the courage to change all his priorities. He seeks to do justice and to share what he has with others.

When we discover that our identity is found in being a beloved child of God, it changes everything. Secure in that hope, we can hold other things more lightly and find the courage to rearrange our priorities.

Challenge

Do the things you prioritise in your everyday life reflect the hope you have as God’s child? Are there areas where God might be inviting you to find the courage to change?

Being a sign of hope

Week 5: Friday

Reading

Isaiah 1.16-17
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings
from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
plead for the widow.

Reflection

Isaiah doesn’t pull his punches. He’s speaking to God’s people and telling them that they’ve gone off track. They need to turn things around and start doing good, putting things right within their community and society. 

But what’s that got to do with hope?

Well, firstly, we put our hope in the God who cares about justice. When we find ourselves vulnerable and in need of help, we trust that God is bringing about a world where all will flourish.

But hope isn’t just a distant promise – something we hold on to in order to make the present more bearable. It’s something God calls us to put into practice now and to share with the world. We’re invited to make the injustice others experience our problem and be active in seeking, rescuing, defending and pleading. When we do this we show others what God is like, and we bring hope.

Challenge

Is there a situation where you could play a more active role to bring justice? How could your words or actions help others flourish?

Taking up our cross

Week 5: Weekend

Reading

Luke 9.23-27
Then he said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.’

Reflection

We’re on the cusp of Holy Week, preparing to accompany Jesus on the journey to the cross. And his message is that, if we want to follow him, we’ll need to take up our own cross too. 

No slick marketing or sugar-coating here. It’s a pretty stark invitation! Why would anyone say yes to it? Why would we choose the suffering and pain that Jesus endured?

The only answer is Jesus himself. We find full and lasting hope only in Jesus. So we want to be where he is. And that means allowing our lives to be transformed by him, going to the hurting places where he goes, having the courage to risk the costs involved. In other words, being as Jesus-like as we can be wherever we find ourselves, knowing that this led Jesus to the cross.

Challenge

What is Jesus like? Write down some of the words you would use to describe him. Then think about the next twenty-four hours. What opportunities might you have to be more Jesus-like?

Reading

1 Kings 18.1,41-44  
After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year of the drought, saying, ‘Go, present yourself to Ahab; I will send rain on the earth.’

Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of rushing rain.’ So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; there he bowed himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees. He said to his servant, ‘Go up now, look towards the sea.’ He went up and looked, and said, ‘There is nothing.’ Then he said, ‘Go again seven times.’ At the seventh time he said, ‘Look, a little cloud no bigger than a person’s hand is rising out of the sea.’ Then he said, ‘Go and say to Ahab, “Harness your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.” ’

Reflection

Elijah has been waiting, and hoping, for rain. 

Seven times he and his servant have looked to the skies and seen nothing, but on the seventh time, they see a cloud – the thing is, it’s tiny. But, for Elijah, that doesn’t seem to matter, it’s enough for him to expect imminent and heavy rainfall.

Don’t despise the small beginnings, that’s what the Bible tells us. Don’t disqualify the seemingly tiny developments, don’t assume that God isn’t working in the ordinary or moving in the mundane.

Hope can feel tough when we’re continually overlooking the things that God is doing in our everyday experiences. We must learn to see our daily lives – as familiar as we are with them – as the backdrop against which God is doing wonderful things.

Challenge

Today let’s pray that we will be given eyes to see the things that God is doing, giving our attention to even the smallest and most ordinary-looking developments.

Reading

Psalm 19.1-6
The heavens are telling the glory of God
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
One day pours out its song to another
and one night unfolds knowledge to another.
They have neither speech nor language
and their voices are not heard,
Yet their sound has gone out into all lands
and their words to the ends of the world.
In them has he set a tabernacle for the sun,
that comes forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber
and rejoices as a champion to run his course.
It goes forth from the end of the heavens
and runs to the very end again,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

Reflection

There’s a quote by the poet, Ingrid Goff-Maidoff, that simply says ‘God spoke today in flowers, and I, who was waiting on words, almost missed the conversation’. 

Creation, the natural world, even the tiniest little pockets of it – that’s one of our best resources for remembering the hugeness, the joy, the creativity and the beauty of the One who made it all.

If you want to be reminded of the sovereignty of God, look to the skies and remind yourself that every star is there by his command. If you need reminding of his creativity, take a walk and spend five minutes studying the first flower you come across. If you need to trust his ability to provide, go in search of some sparrows.

It’s all there, telling the glory of God. Let’s not overlook it, let’s allow it to fill us with hope.

Challenge

Why not go outside, or look out of a window, and simply notice? All that you see is telling you something about the God that made it, and about you.

Reading

Isaiah 43.19
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.

Reflection

I think God might be up to something. Our great and gracious God is up to something beautiful in this cultural moment, I’m certain of it. The evidence is all over the place.  

And, I’m wondering – do you agree?

I seem to be bumping into people, in all kinds of places, who are more intrigued about God than ever before.

Are you seeing this, too? Do you sense that God might be ‘doing a new thing’? Making himself known in new ways?

Each unexpected conversation I’m having about God (and, trust me, I’m no natural evangelist!) is filling me with hope and excitement.

Challenge

What would you like to see God do in our culture? What are the signs of it happening already?

Reading

Revelation 7.9-14
After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying,

‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’

And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, singing,

‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honour
and power and might
be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.’

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?’ I said to him, ‘Sir, you are the one that knows.’ Then he said to me, ‘These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Reflection

We live in a world which can feel very divided. Our culture, too, encourages us to polarise – to stick with people ‘like us’. 

But we are also all too aware of the damaging impact of division. We don’t have to scroll through the news for long before we hear of conflicts across the world and close to home. But it doesn’t have to be this way. And it won’t always be this way.

In our reading today, John describes a vision of heaven’s perfect worship service, where a diverse multitude, saved by Christ, gathers in unity. Although our diversity remains, we will all be united worshipping God face to face. This is the complete, beautiful worship we look forward to, in hope.

This vision also invites us to consider how God’s kingdom can come on earth today. How can we build communities where all are welcome – where we reflect God’s image in all our diversity?

Challenge

Reflect on these words from the Apostles Creed: ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit…, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins’. What might this look like in your community?

Reading

Matthew 5.13-16
‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Reflection

This is one of my favourite verses to quote during a baptism. As I present the candle, I invite the person being baptised to ‘go out and shine’. Where? Everywhere – at school, work, the gym, and the playground. 

Jesus’ call to shine contrasts with modern culture’s focus on self-promotion and personal gain. It’s not about advancing at the expense of others or seeking attention.

Instead, Jesus calls us to notice the darkness and need around us and respond by shining his light. It’s not our own light but Christ’s light within us that shines.

When we allow Jesus, the light of the world, to shine through us, we can bring hope to our communities, showing a different way is possible. And, through this, others may discover Jesus – the source of our light and hope.

Challenge

Identify one of your God-given gifts. If you were to fully embrace it, how would you use it to bring hope in your community?

Reading

John 15.12-17
‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

Reflection

Our reading today reminds us that, if we are going to be people of hope, we need to stay close to Jesus. Reflecting on this passage, the writer Debie Thomas notes that ‘branches that refuse to cling to the vine die’. When we remain connected to Christ, we are filled with life and purpose. This is true individually and collectively.

Staying close to Christ means staying close to the one who sought to serve, rather than be served. The purpose of Christian communities is to serve as instruments of God’s work in the world. As we gather, we must work to encourage belonging and solidarity, especially as we seek to transform unjust structures in society.

Our challenge is to become communities of hope in spaces where hope seems absent. Jesus commanded us to bear fruit that lasts. So, what kind of fruit are we producing in our communities today?

Challenge

This weekend, pray to God for a renewal of the Holy Spirit in your community. Pray that God would equip you to be agents of hope within and across borders.

Reading

John 11.17-27
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’

Reflection

I sense so much emotion in Martha’s words to Jesus. 

Her brother has just died, and Jesus didn’t arrive in time to stop that happening – her words feel soaked in all of the regret, disappointment and anguish usually encapsulated in any ‘if only…’ statement.

And then, seemingly out of nowhere, comes a huge dollop of hope. She has faith that ‘even now’, even though her brother has been dead for at least four days, Jesus can turn things around. Here’s what that teaches me – hope can sit alongside feelings of despair, confusion and desperation. And, what’s more, you can take all of those feelings to God at the very same time. Hope doesn’t require you to pretend you’re not hurting. Brutal honesty with God is the sign of a fighting hope, not a fading one.

Challenge

Today, why don’t we give radical honesty with God a try – what emotions are sitting alongside your hope, emotions you feel shouldn’t be there? Tell him.

Reading

Romans 8.22-26
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.

Reflection

C. S. Lewis reminds us that ‘God’s presence is not the same as the feeling of God’s presence. He may be doing most for us when we think He is doing least.’ 

Sometimes we’ll be able to see, hear, feel or understand what God is up to. And sometimes – oftentimes – we won’t.

This is where we have no option but to trust and hope that, just as Lewis suggests, God is working even when we’re completely unaware of it, even when we can’t see any evidence of it, even when our circumstances seem to be telling a different story.

It’s in those times that we need to rely on the knowledge that all that we see is not all that there is and decide to wait with patience, hope and trust.

Challenge

Let’s soak in C. S. Lewis’s encouragement and exercise some great and wild hope – asking for big things, big change, big shifts in circumstances.

Reading

Revelation 21.1-5
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

‘See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’

And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’

Reflection

I was in Nigeria recently, spending time with people who had endured trauma I could barely imagine, all because they are Christians. 

As I got to know them – got to hear about their stories and their faith – I learnt that our hope is in different things.

My hope is rooted in, and largely directed toward, what’s happening now. While their (much more sturdy) hope largely flows from the promise of what’s to come. Their hope is that one day, God will make all things right, he’ll make all things new. One day, there’ll be no pain, no death, no tears.

I don’t dwell on that reality often enough – I don’t let it fuel my hope, I don’t let it pierce into the here and the now. But I should.

Challenge

To end this third week of Lent, I have a really simple – and also not so simple – question to ask you. How does this over-arching, all-encompassing, all-involving, all-consuming promise affect the way you see today? Both globally and personally?

Week 1: Imperfect

Our lives are complex and we live in an imperfect world. Our daily frustrations and limitations are no surprise to God and he can fill us with hope through these very situations.

Cathrine Fungai Ngangira introduces this week’s theme for our Living Hope Lent reflections.
Watch this week’s video.

Prayer for the week

Lord Jesus,
in the complexity and frustration of life
it can be hard to stay hopeful.
Thank you that nothing is hidden from you.
Show me how you are at work
even in the imperfections of everyday life.
Amen.

When everything goes wrong

Week 1: Monday

Reading

Jonah 2
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying,
‘I called to the Lord out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
You cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
Then I said, “I am driven away
from your sight;
how shall I look again
upon your holy temple?”
The waters closed in over me;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped around my head
at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me for ever;
yet you brought up my life from the Pit,
O Lord my God.
As my life was ebbing away,
I remembered the Lord;
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Those who worship vain idols
forsake their true loyalty.
But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Deliverance belongs to the Lord!’
Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon the dry land.

Reflection

God works through imperfect people to bring hope to broken and troubled communities. The Bible is full of such stories: from Jacob the deceiver to Paul the persecutor.

Jonah’s story is one of personal struggle and divine mercy. First, Jonah tried to run away from God’s assignment to preach to the people of Nineveh by fleeing to Tarshish. After being swallowed by a great fish and spending three days in its belly, Jonah prayed to God. The fish took him to Nineveh where he delivered God’s message. Despite his flaws and reluctance, God worked through Jonah to bring salvation to the people of Nineveh.

It reminds us that even in times of struggle and hopelessness, God can meet us and transform our circumstances. Sometimes the places where hope seems lost are the very places we find hope. God is always at work, even in the most imperfect people and situations.

Challenge

Where is your place or situation of struggle and hopelessness? How might you make it a place where you can meet with God and find hope?

Beauty in brokenness

Week 1: Tuesday

Reading

Psalm 147.1-7
How good it is to make music for our God,
how joyful to honour him with praise.
The Lord builds up Jerusalem
and gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up all their wounds.
He counts the number of the stars
and calls them all by their names.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his wisdom is beyond all telling.
The Lord lifts up the poor,
but casts down the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make music to our God upon the lyre;

Reflection

In a church in Graveney, there is a cross. Not very remarkable, you might think, but this is a cross made from 121 rusty nails. 

Taken from a 14th-century door, the nails were set into Perspex to form a cross. What was apparently broken and useless became something beautiful and meaningful.

In the Bible, brokenness represents both the flaws caused by sin and the wounds from life’s trials. Stories of brokenness are found in Adam and Eve, Tamar, Ruth, David and Bathsheba, the Samaritan woman, and the apostles Peter and Paul. All experienced brokenness. Yet, in each case, God brought beauty and restoration.

In Psalm 147, the psalmist praises a God who heals the broken-hearted, binds their wounds, and lifts the humble. God continues to forgive, heal, and restore those who trust in him. In Jesus, we again encounter the God who mends brokenness, forgives the repentant, and offers healing.

Challenge

When you hear the word ‘broken’, what comes to mind? Can you bring your thoughts to God and ask how he might make the broken into something beautiful?

Mercy transforms

Week 1: Wednesday 

Reading

John 8.3-11
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’

Reflection

We live in a judgmental society, quick to cancel people, surrounded by disorder, conflict, and suffering. 

In such an imperfect world, where people can be hurtful, systems can fail, and life feels overwhelming, mercy becomes a crucial and transformative response. We find hope knowing that all things are held by our merciful God.

Jesus’ response to the woman caught in adultery reflects his mercy and challenges us not to judge others. He forgives her and calls her to a new life, free from sin and shame. God’s love and forgiveness are free gifts – and in gratitude, we are called to extend the same mercy to others.

We are challenged to show mercy not out of obligation, but because we have already received it. We do not offer mercy from an empty place, but from the abundance of grace God has given us.

Challenge

In what situations is it hardest to be merciful? Perhaps on social media, with politicians or other drivers on the road! What might a merciful response look like in the situations that come to mind?

Perfectly imperfect

Week 1: Thursday

Reading

Romans 7.15-19, 24-25
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.

Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.

Reflection

In our reading, Paul opens up about his own inner battles, reaching a point where he honestly admits, ‘I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.’ He understood that being a Christian doesn’t prevent him struggling to do the right thing.

Many of us face persistent weaknesses and habits we constantly fight against. Despite our best efforts, we often find ourselves back in the same place, leading to frustration and self-criticism. We can be too hard on ourselves.

The more we try to save ourselves by our own strength and wisdom, the more hopeless our situation becomes. Paul came to realize that perfection is not the goal. He does not have to be flawless, because Jesus Christ is perfect, and God can work through our imperfections. The point is to bring everything to our loving God.

Challenge

What do you do when you are frustrated with weaknesses? How can these weaknesses be spaces where you encounter God?

Keep going

Week 1: Friday

Reading

Philippians 3.10-14
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Reflection

Tanzanian long-distance runner John Stephen Akhwari became famous for his incredible endurance at the 1968 Olympics. 

During the race, he fell and injured his knee and shoulder, but despite the pain and the expectation that he would quit, he refused to give up. After receiving medical attention, he returned to the track and walked the remainder of the race, finishing over an hour after the winner. When asked why he continued, he simply said, ‘My country did not send me to start the race, but to finish the race’.

This determination serves as a powerful reminder to keep putting one foot in front of the other, even in the face of adversity. We can ask for God’s help to persevere in spite of the obstacles. The Apostle Paul, despite facing many hardships, focused on the eternal reward awaiting those who finish the race of faith. So, if you’re feeling discouraged, remember, don’t quit – keep going!

Challenge

Take time to read and reflect on the Lenten journey so far. Where have you seen God at work? Hold on to that as you continue the journey.

Honest with God

Week 1: Weekend

Reading

Psalm 13
How long will you forget me, O Lord; for ever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long shall I have anguish in my soul
and grief in my heart, day after day?
How long shall my enemy triumph over me?
Look upon me and answer, O Lord my God;
lighten my eyes, lest I sleep in death;
Lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed against him,’
and my foes rejoice that I have fallen.
But I put my trust in your steadfast love;
my heart will rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
for he has dealt so bountifully with me.

Reflection

Lament involves bringing our raw, unfiltered emotions – our pains and struggles – before God. Yet how many of us truly understand how to lament?

Psalm 13 provides a biblical example: David, feeling abandoned by God, boldly asks, ‘How long?’. But even in his pain, he holds onto the hope that God will answer. The healing may not have been immediate, but David’s attitude had changed. Lament creates a space where we confront our struggles, but also remain confident in God’s power to save.

The theologian Emmanuel Katongole describes how lament gives voice to those experiencing profound grief, enabling them to reclaim agency and move forward.

Learning to lament – to be completely honest with God – takes practice. But, when we discover that God welcomes us and wants to meet us exactly where we are, we find lasting hope.

Challenge

Think of a situation where you long for change. Can you express your honest feelings to God without tidying them up first? It might help to write them down or say them aloud.