Hop on board the Wilderness express.

 If you were to write a holiday brochure for places in the Bible, I wonder where you would choose. Jerusalem would be an obvious choice. Perhaps Rome might feature too. The wilderness, however, would probably not make the list. It does not sound appealing or comfortable, and yet the wilderness appears again and again in Scripture as a place where God meets His people.

In our Gospel reading (Matt 4.1-11) today, we heard of Jesus going into the wilderness. He went there to prepare for His ministry, and while He was there, He was met by the devil, who tempted Him with promises of an easier and more attractive way. We are not told how long Jesus had already been in the wilderness before these temptations came. He may have been thinking about food or reflecting on how demanding His work would be. We rightly believe that Jesus was fully God, but He was also fully human. I am not sure that I would have coped so well in the wilderness.

To me, the word wilderness suggests emptiness and danger. I picture wild animals, insects, rough ground, and uneven paths—if there is even a path at all. It does not sound like a place that would sell well in a travel brochure. Yet many people in the Bible experienced the wilderness in different ways, and reflecting on their stories may help us to see why the wilderness might deserve a place in a biblical brochure after all.

I want to take us to the wilderness experienced by Abraham and Sarah in the Old Testament. God told Abraham to leave his home and travel with Sarah to a new place. They did not know where they were going; they only knew that God had told them to go. As they travelled, they may have been tempted to settle somewhere comfortable. Instead, they continued to listen for God’s guidance. They also lived through the long wilderness of waiting for a child. After many years of disappointment, Sarah was promised a son, even though she and Abraham were far beyond the expected age. Abraham was eighty-six years old when his child was born, twenty years after God’s promise was first made.

Abraham and Sarah had journeyed through an emotional wilderness and came out the other side. They experienced the joy that God had promised them. Their story suggests that the wilderness can be a place where faith grows and hope is renewed.

It is difficult to think about the wilderness without also thinking about the desert. Thinking about Moses helps us here. Moses led the people of Israel through the desert towards the land that God had promised them. Along the way, the people complained, doubted God, and longed for their old lives. I doubt that Moses always enjoyed this journey or trusted that everything would work out in the end. Yet when the people eventually reached the promised land, there was great joy.

One place that might seem certain to appear in a biblical travel brochure is the Garden of Eden. It was beautiful, and everything was as it should be between God and the first humans, Adam and Eve ( Gen 2.15–17; 3.1-7).

However, the serpent tempted Adam and Eve to turn away from God by encouraging them not to listen to Him. Because of this, the garden became a place of warning rather than welcome.

Jesus entered the wilderness without any brochure or promises of comfort. When He was tempted, He did not rely on His own strength alone. Instead, He fell back on the Scriptures He knew so well. 

We also heard from the letter to the Romans (Rom 5.12-19) this morning. Rome might sound like a good destination for a biblical travel brochure, but to understand the passage we heard, we need to remember the story of the Garden of Eden. As the letter explains, just as Adam brought sin into the world, Jesus made everything right again.

As it says in the letter:

“Just as by the one person’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”

These words remind us that through Jesus, we all have the opportunity to be made right with God.

Perhaps the wilderness can be included in a biblical travel brochure when we think about Jesus’ time there. It may still sound empty and frightening, but it reflects times in our own lives when things may feel uncertain or overwhelming. The wilderness can be a time when we learn to rely fully on God, just as Abraham and Sarah, and Moses, did before us.

Lent is a time to rely intentionally on God. We know that we should be doing this throughout the year, but it is not always easy. Reflecting on the wilderness can remind us to slow down, listen, and trust God.

In the wilderness, Jesus prayed, and that is an important lesson for us. Lent reminds us to pray more and to think about God more. We may not feel as though we are in a wilderness, and the idea of being tempted by the devil may not feel as dramatic as it was for Jesus. However, temptation is anything that draws us away from God. It can be something small, such as praying less than we used to, or failing to show kindness and patience.

As believers, we are called to be more like Jesus, whom we follow. That means trying to act as He did. When we face difficult times, or when other things seem more appealing than spending time with God, we are encouraged to put things right. Jesus survived temptation by pointing back to God. Every temptation He faced was answered with Scripture that reminded Him of who God is and what God can do.

If we set aside the idea of a biblical travel brochure, we might think of the wilderness as a place where Jesus encountered His Father. He was close to God, relied on Him, and trusted Him completely.

Today is the first Sunday of Lent, and we are reminded not only of Jesus in the wilderness, but also of Jesus making it possible for us to be right with God again.

I am not sure how you are keeping Lent this year, but I would like to suggest one thing. The most important part of Lent is taking time to grow closer to God in prayer. May we make the most of Lent as we spend more time praying and trusting in God’s love, together as believers.

That’s the Glory of Love

 This week we will see the beginning of Lent… the time when we draw closer to God, the time when we spend moments thinking of things that we can change in our lives, and the ways that we want to see the World change and to pray for the World.

It is a very serious time but before lent begins I want to tell you a story about a rabbit.  There is a reason and that is that the story relates to our readings this morning and it is a very good story plus the story talks about spring which cannot come too soon !  The rabbit in the story is called Mr Hopewell.  Hope – well, hop-well ?

Mr Hopewell had been born into a particularly cold environment with a lot of snow.  He was always cold but he heard the other rabbits talking about spring.  Mr Hopewell thought that spring sounded good and he assumed that Spring was a person, a ‘Mr.Spring’. So he asked the other rabbits about when Mr.Spring would arrive and they all laughed at him.

He did not ask any more questions until he saw a daffodil, and he asked the daffodil ‘are you Mr.Spring?’ ‘no’ replied the daffodil ‘but without spring I would not be here’.  Then the daffodil explained that spring was all around Mr.Hopewell and that was why it was warmer.

Now Mr.Hopewell was a very clever rabbit and he became a man.  Not only did he become a man but he kept hearing people talking about life being better with God.  So Mr Hopewell hunted for someone to ask who Mr. God was and where he might be found as Mr Hopewell wished to meet him… 

Then all of a sudden he found himself on a mountain and saw the most beautiful sight he had ever seen and someone came up to him and said “wow, that’s the glory of God”.  Mr Hopewell asked “where ?” and the man answered ‘the glory of God is everywhere’. The man went on, ‘God made you and His glory is with you, and is wrapped all around the world’.

The readings today have spoken about glory, the glory of God.  Moses met with God in the Old Testament reading (Exodus 24:12-end) and was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights as he was overcome with the glory of God. 

Then in the reading from the second letter to Peter  (2 Peter 1:16-21) we were reminded of the power, majesty and glory of God that follow Him. 

In the Gospel reading (Matthew 17:1-9) we were reminded of the transfiguration, the moment when Jesus dazzled the disciples with Him as He met with Moses and Elijah.

Moses and Elijah were very important figures, Moses had brought the law of God to the people of Israel, and Elijah had taught them how to continue their relationship with God.  Both of them had shown to the people of Israel the glory of God in His law, and in His teaching.  Jesus showed the glory of God in a different way.

His way was not a way that ignored the law, but His was better because His glory was the glory of love.  A love for us that was so great that He would die for our sins, that he would die for us.

As we worship God we are worshipping One who doesn’t just love but is love.  He is also the God of glory and to Him belongs our worship and our praise.

I am not sure about you but there have been times in my life when I have been particularly aware of the presence of God and have seen the glory of God all around me. These are those times when you just want to stay in the place you are, so that you do not lose that feeling.  

One such time for me was the first time that we went to the Holy Land, I have to admit that I was a little nervous about practical things such as being a fussy eater ! I found crowds a lot to deal with as they seemed to get in the way of my reflection time. I was so wrong as one day we went to the beach where Jesus appeared to the disciples after the resurrection and you can almost imagine that the disciples were desperate to ask Jesus questions and all He said was,’lets eat breakfast.’ To be in that place was incredible and I could have stayed there for hours looking at the sea of Galilee and thinking of the love of God. 

However, reality meant that there was more to see and more to do- which to be honest was definitely worthwhile. 

In the gospel reading Peter knew that something incredible had happened, and was happening and somehow, he wanted to catch that moment and to hold onto it forever. 

I can understand that feeling, it is what you might call a mountain top experience, that is those times in life when it seems that things cannot get any better.

Reality can often be different to those wonderful mountain top experiences that we can have.  The reality is that somehow we have to take something of those wonderful experiences into our everyday lives.  It is as if God gives us something good to re-energize us to go and do His work.  As we prepare to enter Lent, a solemn time, a time where we don’t say the Gloria, we enter with the reminder we have had of God’s glory this morning. It is almost a picture memory to get us ready for the next time we celebrate God’s glory as we celebrate Resurrection. 

God is a God of glory, He is not just the God of love.., He actually is love; following Him and trying to be more like Him we cannot help but face reality with the love that He gives, because the more time we spend trying to be like God, is the more time we spend becoming like a mirror through which the glory of God can shine in the world and into the pain of those around us dispelling fear.

May we approach Lent ready to transform our lives to become more like God and thereby to transform the lives of all those around us with His love and His glory. 

Clouds, Lilies, and the Creator’s Joy - A REFLECTION

The Old Testament reading for this week is a long one (Genesis 1:1–2:3). It’s the account of creation, and it always sets my mind wandering back to how I understood creation and the weather as a little girl. I believed thunder wasn’t scary because it was simply the clouds bumping into each other. Snow fell because it got cold in heaven. The wind was God letting out a big breath, and the rain… well, I was convinced that even God needed to go to the toilet sometimes.

People hold many different views about how creation happened and how it all works, but for me the most important thing is this: God was behind it all.

Thinking that way allows my imagination to run wild. I love picturing God looking at the world He was forming and thinking, “Not bad—I did that.” I can imagine Him like an artist seeking perfection, almost playful in His creativity. “Let’s see what happens if I separate the waters,” I imagine Him saying. “Let’s see what else I can make.”

When God created, He also created us—and this is where things became less perfect, as humans began to drift away from Him. Creation lost some of its original beauty because sin had entered the world.

The reading from Romans (8:18–25) helps me connect with the concerns of those who recognised that the world was no longer as God intended. When I look at suffering and at wars, it would be easy to become discouraged. But, like the people who first received Paul’s letter, I wait with the assurance that God is in control. All the suffering I see now is nothing compared with the glory that will be revealed when I see God face to face.

And yet, it’s the gospel reading (Matthew 6:25–34) that helps me most as I think about creation today. I find myself imagining the scene: the disciples sitting and listening as Jesus told them not to worry. He didn’t leave them with just the instruction—He pointed to creation to explain why.

This is where I’m helped again, because I imagine Jesus speaking with joy and wonder as He looked at the world around Him. He noticed the birds—free, unworried, provided for. He saw the lilies—growing beautifully without fear or striving.

Jesus used creation itself to show the joy God felt in making it. That should encourage me not to worry. I know that trusting God can be difficult in hard times, but these readings remind me of God’s delight in creating and His love for me. That should be a source of hope.

Worry won’t disappear completely, but it becomes easier to bear when I remember that the God who created with such joy wants me to experience that joy too. As I turn to Him and become more like Him, He protects me, loves me, and invites me into the freedom He intended from the beginning.

When the season ends, the light remains

 

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Can you remember what you were doing 40 days ago? Most likely you were celebrating Christmas. Now, 40 days later, the Church gently closes the Christmas season. The decorations are packed away, ready to re‑emerge when Christmas 2026 arrives.

At Christmas we say, “Happy Christmas!” But today? “Happy end of Christmas season” doesn’t quite land. And yet, like every wonderful holiday or special moment, even Christmas comes to an end. But for the Church, I’m not sure we can—or even should—say the season truly ends.

Because as the celebrations fade, one constant remains: Jesus and His unfailing love for us. Jesus came, and because He died and rose again, and because of Pentecost, we know He is with us always.

During Christmas, you may have heard those majestic opening words of John’s Gospel: “We have seen his glory…” Today we celebrate the moment when Simeon and Anna saw that glory in the temple. And how incredible that we, too, can see the glory of Jesus—in creation, in God’s healing and helping, and perhaps even in the ways others see Him reflected in us.

So what does God’s glory look like? It looks like someone trying to become more like Him. It looks like those moments when we encounter something so beautiful, so holy, that words fall short. Like holding a newborn baby. Or being moved by a piece of music or art that touches something deep inside.

When I picture Mary and Joseph bringing Jesus to the temple, I wonder what they expected. Probably not what happened next.

As soon as they arrive, they meet Simeon. The moment he greets them, he recognises Jesus as the One the world had been waiting for—the Messiah who would change everything. This doesn’t surprise us, but for Mary and Joseph it was yet another extraordinary encounter. They knew Jesus was different; they knew God had spoken; they knew they were part of something far bigger than themselves.

Simeon realised that the promise he’d waited his whole life to see—God stepping into the world—had finally arrived. He saw that Jesus was the light who would transform the world and make life new.

And that light caused Simeon to rejoice: his eyes had seen God’s salvation. In Jesus, the light of the world, we too can celebrate the salvation He brings. We can know and experience the glory of God.

Mary and Joseph then meet Anna, a faithful presence in the temple. She prayed constantly, longing for freedom for her people, longing for God to act. And into her long waiting, the unexpected happened—everything she prayed for arrived in the form of a child.

Two faithful people waited. A baby arrived. And the promises of God began to unfold before their eyes.

Sometimes I wonder: did Simeon ever doubt? Did Anna ever grow weary? Yet even after a lifetime of waiting, God broke into their world—and hope burst forth again.

We can share in that same unshakeable hope. It doesn’t remove every struggle, but it does give us the certainty of salvation—something to receive, and something to share.

Simeon declared that in Jesus he had seen salvation. When we turn to Jesus, when we pray, we too can know His forgiveness and salvation.

Of course, Simeon had more to say. He saw that Jesus’ coming would stir hearts and force choices. He also warned Mary that she would feel deep pain—through what people said about Jesus, and through what He would suffer.

If I were advising Simeon, I might suggest stopping at the joyful part about glory. But he spoke the truth: following Jesus would bring both wonder and sorrow.

Mary stayed faithful anyway. She had said yes to God. She knew the ancient stories of God’s love and calling. Even when she didn’t understand, she held fast.

And now, as the Christmas season ends and we turn again to the constant—the glory of Jesus—it’s worth remembering that the same glory Simeon and Anna saw, the same love and faithfulness Mary and Joseph lived, still guide and inspire us. As we think of Jesus, may we see His glory, know His love, and share it freely with those around us. May we point others to God’s glory always. AMEN.

From zeal to grace: the transformation of Paul

What did you want to be when you grew up? Apparently, when I was 4, I wanted to be the Pope.  Later on I wanted to be a prima ballerina, a teacher, a librarian, a fashion designer, a brick layer. I had eclectic tastes. 

Today we are celebrating the conversion of Paul the apostle (Acts 9:1-22). The great evangelist, letter writer and martyr. If he had been asked as a child what he wanted to be when he grew up the answer would not have been any of those descriptions. In fact in the reading we heard from the book of Acts he was someone who was full of threats against Christians. He was on his way to get permission from the synagogue to bind the believers up. Certainly not someone who would become a martyr or evangelist for Jesus. 

When I think of Paul I always think of him as having been a bright and rising star. He was clever, he was committed and he was even zealous. The word zealous can be described as being passionate about a cause. Saul was passionate for God and for his beliefs.

I could imagine him being one of the names you would want to watch. I can picture young women desperate to make a good and pleasing marriage with someone so important. Today he might have been someone you want to meet, someone impressive and just imagine being found with someone like Saul walking around Jerusalem, you would have gained respect. 

Of course that was all to change. Life turned around. The man who could only do right in the eyes of the leaders of his faith completely turned against what he was meant to be doing. Saul, was on his way to persecute Christians, and then he had an amazing moment where he was blinded and heard the voice of Jesus. He completely turned around, he wasn’t going to persecute the followers of Jesus as he became one himself.

Talk about a complete change. This is because he had come to know that God had come amongst us. He knew that Jesus was worth knowing and so he was still as zealous as he had ever been. However, he now understood that his zeal had been a little misplaced or confused.

The Jewish form of his name was Saul, but, because he ended up preaching to gentiles, the Greek form of his name, which is Paul became the name that was used by the early Church, and of course now, by us.

The events that led to his conversion were certainly surprising. A complete change in what he believed. Rather than thinking of Jesus as an imposter trying to get people to follow Him, Paul came to know that Jesus was God. Not only, this but that Paul needed to change and he wanted to share the good news of Jesus with others. 

The first hymn this morning was Amazing Grace. I love this hymn it reminds us that God saved us on the cross. I also love the fact that it is all so simple. Jesus died for us, so we could know Him and the promise of life everlasting. 

In the Psalm (67), we asked God to bless us, to make His face shine upon us. The whole reason was so that we would make His name known. We can do this just by being like Him. By loving, by telling others about Him.

I absolutely love books. One of my favourite books is called, “what's so amazing about Grace.” In this book there are stories of a number of people who have experienced and practised grace to one another. It really is a great book. One of my favourite parts, which I know I have said before, but it’s great and worth repeating,  is actually in the blurb on the back. It says, ‘there is nothing we can do to make God love us less and nothing we can do to make God love us more.’ 

I remember that I used to spend so much time trying to please God that I forgot that the cross and forgiveness was not to make me feel guilty but to make me feel free. Those words made me have a sudden, ‘well obviously’ realisation. Jesus didn't die to make us work hard to find and please Him. We could almost change the words in the hymn Amazing Grace, ‘I once was lost but now am found’ to,  ‘I once was lost but now am free’.

Paul had been zealous for God, always trying to make sure that he kept to the laws he had known. When he became zealous for God amongst us, Jesus, he would not stop preaching about Him.

Talk about a turn around. Thanks to what happened to Paul the good news about Jesus spread throughout the Roman empire. Paul encouraged the first Christians through letters. We have those letters and we use them today, asking God to speak to us through them.

Now, I don’t imagine that any of us are guilty of having  persecuted other believers in the past. However, we aren’t all perfect, sorry, I don’t mean to offend anyone by saying that. The thing is that none of us are perfect but with God we have an incredible strength. None of us is the finished article, that will only happen in heaven. However, in the meantime we can try to bring heaven to earth by the way we live and the ways that we seek to be more like God.

Maybe rather than what did we want to be when we grew up, we can think of who we are now as God’s followers. As we do this we would do well to remember that God loves us and all He really wants is that we will seek to be more like Him day by day. Also, there really is nothing we can do to make God loves us more and nothing we can do to make God love us less. After all, God always loved Paul even when he was persecuting the Christians. AMEN 

When God takes us by surprise.

I wonder whether you have ever pictured something happening or gone along to an event and had a good idea

For example, maybe you have gone to a concert to see an orchestra play and it has been beautiful.

Maybe you have gone to a football match and your team has won.

Maybe you have hoped to see a beautiful waterfall and you got there and were not disappointed.

I remember being in New York with my husband. We had decided to go and see a show on Broadway.

We saw the people selling tickets for shows such as The Lion King, Mamma Mia, Phantom and Moving On. The latter was a Billy Joel show. A musical, we assumed, so we bought our tickets and went.

Now I have to admit that whilst I like the music of Billy Joel I was not sure what a Billy Joel musical would be like. Surely Mamma Mia using the music of ABBA would be easier to get my head around.

Anyway, we went, the show began, the music started and then a group of dancers appeared who performed ballet, to live Billy Joel music granted, but still ballet.

Now I did not expect that! So for the next two hours I happily watched ballet

The unexpected can often be quite pleasant but not always.

In our gospel reading this morning (Matthew 3:13-17) we heard of the baptism of Jesus, an event that took John the Baptist by surprise.

John the Baptist had waited for a great Messiah and prepared the way, he had spoken of the chosen one, the anointed one who was greater than him who would appear in a very dramatic way.

John the Baptist was expecting something great, something amazing and Jesus the great one came and asked for baptism from him.

John’s expectations and words were not met in the way he expected. A little like a ballet in another guise but even more so.

Jesus insisted on being baptised by John and then when he came out of the water the Holy Spirit descended like a dove.

There were no whistles, cheering, no change in weather. It was all quite laid back, except for the heavens opening and hearing the voice of God.

John the Baptist had an unexpected moment, but it was a moment of realisation that God’s plans were underway and would all happen just not quite in the way he expected.

God appeared but not in the way that people had expected neither was it in the way that they had prepared for.

How many times has God taken you by surprise?

God is not always where or how we expect Him to be, but He is there.

Sometimes in the words of another person, in the comfort of a friend, in the love of a family member.

God is a God of surprises and this was certainly the surprise that John the Baptist would have felt.

It is a little like the magi, they searched for a great King and instead found a newborn baby in a stable.

God has a tendency to take us all by surprise.

Jesus appeared for baptism but why?

Well, it was so He could be like us.

Baptism marks a time when we or someone on our behalf make promises so that we can be made an official part of the family of God.

Jesus went through baptism to signify that He was like us, and that He belonged to the family of humanity and the family of God.

Jesus who is God became one of us.

Jesus explained in the gospel reading that it had to be this way to fulfil righteousness.

This is a strange phrase, it has echoes of the suffering servant that Isaiah prophesied and anticipated as appearing.

The suffering servant has been thought of as Jesus, and the servant does things for righteousness.

Or, to put it another way, to fulfil a command to bring people back to God.

In our reading from the book of Acts (10:34-43) we heard Peter explaining that God has no favourites.

This is from a very exciting chapter when the unexpected had happened.

Peter had followed all the dietary laws expected of him as a Jew. He knew that he was not to mix with non-Jews, Gentiles, but he had a dream where God had asked him to eat food which would have been seen as unclean for a Jew to eat.

Peter challenged this with God and received the reply from God that Peter could not call unclean foods that God had given him to eat.

This challenge was unexpected, a big surprise for Peter. He was being challenged by God to accept those who were different.

We are told in this chapter from Acts that at the same time Peter received his vision so did a man called Cornelius, whose vision was a command from God to go and visit Peter.

Cornelius was a Gentile. He and his family went, they spoke to Peter about their faith.

Peter realised that he was to welcome Cornelius in the same way as he would welcome any other believer.

The story ends up with Peter baptising Cornelius and all his family.

Before this he spoke to other believers, who were Jews in their following of dietary laws.

Like Peter they had come to believe in Jesus.

The role Peter had was to explain to them the news he had received from God.

News which meant that the Gentiles were loved by God and accepted in the same way.

This is the part of the chapter that we have heard this morning.

This was a huge change to people who had thought that God was exclusively theirs.

It is all a reminder that in the same way that Jesus went to John for baptism, and Peter welcomed Gentiles, God is unexpected and He loves us just as we are.

There is a saying, ‘there is nothing you can do to make God love you less, and there is nothing you can do to make God love you more.’

The greatest thing to know in life is that God loves you.

The greatest thing to do in life is to respond to that love, knowing that the unexpected may be right around the corner but God will give you strength for that.

May we be ready to listen to God, and to be prepared to change if God asks us to do so.

AMEN