Hope in suffering

Iraq and Afghanistan are rarely out of the news. This week they’ve featured even more prominently.

First there were bombings in Baghdad and then the threat of violence amidst elections in Afghanistan. These countries have faced serious suffering, as did those to whom Peter was writing in this week’s readings.

But Peter points his readers to the eternal perspective in the context of suffering. Because of Christ, they have hope. Suffering for doing good is commended – it’s the example of Christ.

In Iraq and Afghanistan many have suffered in their attempts to do good, yet they persist. Why? Probably because they hope for better things. They are looking to the bigger picture.

In Afghanistan, people are willing to risk violent attacks to vote. Hope is a powerful motivator throughout suffering.

The need to focus on the bigger picture may also prove necessary for A Level students this week. Many are expected not to get clearance places at university.

No doubt there will be many disappointed students. Focusing on the bigger picture may just help them to find the positives in these situations.

Finally, debate this week has centred on the release of the Lockerbie bomber and his Libyan identity: is he just being released to improve relations with Libya? Peter is concerned about identity and reminds his readers that in Christ they have a new identity.

It can be easy to forget that our primary identity needs to be in Christ. But it’s this identity that gives us hope – hope that sustains us through whatever trials and sufferings we may face and calls us to live lives that testify to God, no matter what.

Susannah Clark

No Thunderbirds on a Sunday!

There was one problem with visiting my Grandparents on a Sunday, no TV. This meant, at the time, no Thunderbirds. For a young boy of about 10, this was a big deal.

My Grandparents weren't overly poor or technophobes; they did have a TV. But it would not be turned on during Sunday, the day of rest, the Christian take on the Sabbath from today's WordLive.

Today's passage got me thinking about those Sunday's years ago.

For a young boy the no TV rule seemed very legalistic. As an older boy the memory seems quite strange. TV, back then, was one of the few things available on a Sunday. Now, in a western world where everything is open, Sunday is pretty much like any other day and there is plenty to do.

There is one nagging thought though about those Sunday's past. The day was anything but a day of rest. It was one thing after another...

1. Wake up
2. Large breakfast
3. Morning service at church
4. Large Sunday lunch - extended family invited
5. A moment to chat
6. Large Sunday tea - extended, extended family invited
7. Evening service at Church
8. After church Bible study
9. Tea and cakes back at my Grandparents
10. Go to bed

My Grandparents and most of the family would work from the moment they got up to the moment they went to bed. Preparing food, eating food, cleaning up, going to church.

As I look back, I can't help thinking I have lost something in my 'day of rest'. As I think about what the Sabbath means to me, I may need to look back at what my Grandparents had. For them the day was a day of sharing love with others and worshipping God.

Perhaps that is what the Sabbath really is?

Darren

Facing the law

Understanding the relevance of Leviticus for today can be hard. Yet the laws God laid down were for the people’s own good. Many of the news stories this week show the damage that is done when people don’t obey them.

I don’t think anyone thought the robbery of £40 million worth of jewellery was acceptable – it was stealing. And the possible release of the Lockerbie bomber and the publication of the name of Baby P’s mother remind us of crimes that show profoundly the abuse that happens when we fail to love our neighbour, when we oppress and murder.

Our concern to see justice done for crimes such as these demonstrates that we recognise God’s laws are a good thing.

Meanwhile the recession is now affecting nearly 1 million under-25s who are facing unemployment. Isn’t this largely the result of economic greed and injustice, something else we read about this week?

And in Burma we’ve witnessed the injustice of the further detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, which prompted international outrage.

For all of us, though, this week’s readings highlight that no matter how hard we try, we can never perfectly keep God’s laws. And the sacrifices the people offered were never going to be sufficient to pay for their sins.

This week’s news stories highlight horrific crimes and horrendous injustice. We may not carry out such acts, but we all need the atoning blood of Jesus to make us right before God. None of us can reach his standard on our own.

Let’s remember, too, why he gives his commands: for our good and for the benefit of society, because he loves us.

Susannah Clark

Patience, perseverance and personal relationships

It’s been a week of questions and speculations in the news. Is the economy really beginning to recover? Has there really been a drop in swine flu cases? And will Flintoff be able to play his final test series despite his injuries?

In this week’s readings in Hosea, God had his questions – how long would he have to wait for Israel to turn back to him? Yet he didn’t give up on Israel, he patiently pursued his people and was ready and willing to help them.

Do we feel like the economic gloom will never end, or that swine flu will only get worse? Perhaps we need to cultivate an attitude of perseverance, meanwhile being willing to help those we can.

Further afield, Bill Clinton swept in to rescue two captured US journalists in North Korea. Imagine the relief for those women at being freed!

Maybe this is a small glimpse of the dramatic rescue that God is offering to Israel. He wants to pull them out of their trouble, danger and sin, if only they will turn to him.

Above all, God is calling his people to a genuine relationship with him. He wants Israel to turn back to him, not because he has forced them to, but out of genuine repentance and love. He doesn’t want their empty sacrifices.

It’s interesting, then, that earlier this week Archbishop Vincent Nichols raised concerns about facebook and other social networking sites, suggesting they damage genuine relationships. Given this, these readings are a timely reminder of our need for genuine relationships built on love and trust, with each other and with God.

Susannah Clark

The secret of happiness

It’s Happiness Week in Britain! In a five-day experiment with 5,000 volunteers, British psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman is trying to find which one of a number of techniques is most effective in cheering people up.

At first glance – and not surprisingly – God doesn’t seem to feature in the techniques. But then again, performing acts of kindness and expressing gratitude for the good things in our lives are closer to biblical ideas than many things people do to make themselves happy, such as shopping.

A more fundamental way of creating happiness is to put injustices right. Sadly, it seems that many people in Zimbabwe are not so sure that the government’s call for reconciliation will work. Yet if anywhere needs reconciliation and happiness, surely it’s Zimbabwe.

Last week saw the death of someone who had worked hard for justice and reconciliation in her own country. Former Philippines President Corazon Aquino became president in 1986 following a so-called People’s Revolution. All of this was sparked by the murder of her politician husband and presidential candidate Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino in 1983.

Injustice and deception were a disappointing dimension of Jacob’s life. But as we see in this week’s readings, a measure of reconciliation came to his family – at a price. Happiness is not always easily found.

Emlyn Williams