| Saint Mary's Church, Saffron Walden | |||||||
|
What's on Grapevine News Marriages and Baptisms Who's Who Groups Photos Links Young People Homework Help Parish Profile History
|
Home Contact Calendar Help at Special Times Music Services Sermons
April 2010 The Rector writes: Dear Friends, Doesn’t time fly by? The older I get, the faster it seems to go. Indeed, I must admit to the occasional thought about retirement. Insofar as I sometimes enjoy speculating about where we might live and conjuring up images of a cosy contentment, this not an unappealing prospect! For others the future can look bleak. This is reflected in some of the language used to describe ageing. The phrase “over the hill”, for example, implies that the high point has already been reached. Alongside much of our experience and the tenor of contemporary debate about caring for older people, old age can appear to only bring diminution. Failing physical health, more lapses of memory and a blunting of mental faculties are the expected markers of decline. Yet pessimism about the future is not the preserve of those approaching middle age. Global warming, the Credit Crunch or the injustices that blight our modern world give cause for concern. Whilst closer to home, our own shortcomings, our bad habits or destructive relationships can rob us of any vestiges of optimism. From a Christian perspective, the duality of a positive or negative view of what is going to happen is inadequate. The events of Easter have imbued time with an unshakeable hope. They require of us a radical transformation in our understanding of the future. Betrayed, deserted and mocked, Jesus of Nazareth hung on the cross on Good Friday. Another would-be messiah dead. The mounting excitement surrounding his entry into Jerusalem had come to nothing. Vivid stories, miraculous healings, extravagant hospitality had seemed to be signs that God’s kingdom had come. It had proved to be a false dawn. Ready to anoint a corpse, the disciples found an empty tomb and a risen Christ on Easter morn. For them as for us, Resurrection is shocking, scarcely credible. Nonetheless with each successive encounter, confidence in this new reality deepened. Slowly, they grasped this astounding truth: in his case, death had not led to decomposition but through God’s love to a fuller life. Jesus’ physical presence, raised from the dead, heralded a new age. This act of God marks a profound discontinuity in time. With this event, time is transfigured. In the light of the Resurrection, there are two vital features of a Christian understanding of what is to come. Insomuch as it is possible, we should be prepared for surprises. With God, the past and present do not, inevitably, lead to a predictable outcome. “Behold, I make all things new,” is what God communicates to us through the Resurrection of this Jesus. We need to be ready to embrace renewal where we see it. Furthermore, it is not optimism or pessimism that characterises a Christian perspective but hope. A confident hope not rooted in our projections from the present or a belief in human ingenuity, rather a hope firmly founded on God. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has revealed to us through the events of Good Friday and Easter that nothing can separate us from God’s love. Whatever our experience, however dark it might seem, God will bring transformation. For it is always blackest just before the dawn. Then the sunrise lights a new day! With this hope in God in our hearts, we are rightly called an Easter people. Our conviction expressed simply and wonderfully in the Easter greeting:
David Tomlinson
December 2009/ January 2010 letter
|
||||||
