LITURGY
WORD OF GOD
Do you suppose that they were more guilty than all the other people living in Jerusalem? They were not, I tell
you. But unless you repent you will all perish as they did.
(Luke 13:4-5)
WORD FOR TODAY
We all think that we have plenty of time to get round to sorting out our lives and our relationship with God. But today’s gospel warns us that we never know what’s around the corner; besides, what’s so undesirable bout God that we would we want to put off committing ourselves fully to him?
WORDS FOR WORSHIP
May God the Father grant you the freedom to hear and understand his word and the grace to repent of your
sins. Amen.
May God the Son enlighten your minds that you may know the riches held out to you by the promises of his
Father. Amen.
May God the Holy Spirit lead you into all goodness and inspire you to serve each other by your service of God who is the source of all love and
compassion. Amen.
And may almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
FAITH IN FOCUS: LAST CHANCE SALOON?
I always meant to sort out that kitchen shelf and now that it’s crashed to the floor with all the crockery it’s too late. The same goes for that little chip in the windscreen that now looks like a spider’s web, and of course there’s that faulty old plug on the TV set which probably caused last night’s loud explosion during Coronation Street!
We love to put things off. Yes, we’ll get round to them some day but at the moment I’m a bit tired, a bit busy or a bit too distracted to do anything about them. There’s always tomorrow.
In today’s gospel, one of the most frightening episodes according to many people, Jesus issues a real warning. Don’t think that you can put off repentance until tomorrow because repentance is a “now-thing” and, what’s more, you never know what’s lurking around the corner. He reminds his listeners of two awful events that had just taken place in and around Jerusalem: a murderous attack on worshippers in the Temple, and a disaster that killed eighteen people when a building collapsed on them. Do you think these people had any idea they wouldn’t return home that day, says Jesus, and do you think they were more guilty than anyone else? Of course not. Then, he tells them, you too must repent now or you will perish like they did.
Lent reminds us that repentance is not a once-and-for-all action; we don’t make a grand act of repentance and then sit back and relax. Repentance is a constant activity of the Christian, not continually worrying about our stance before God, but striving all the time to be as close to God as we can by the way we treat other people. Repentance means taking a regular reality check that what we are doing and saying is consistent with our desire to belong to God’s family. And although we concentrate on repentance a great deal in Lent, it is something that should be a daily activity for all of us, and we need to pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit to be able to repent.
Is there something in your life that niggles at you? Something that you know you should do something about which will improve your quality of life with God and with others? Well, don’t worry about it; you can always do something about it tomorrow, after Easter, in the summer or in the run-up to Christmas…. Or perhaps not!
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