Today, Ash Wednesday, is the first day of Lent, and as we journey through Lent, we are reading from Sally Welch’s book ‘Sharing The Easter story,’ which looks at a different Bible passage each day. This week’s theme is ‘Repenting,’ and today’s reading comes from 2 Samuel 12:1-5, the passage where the prophet Nathan skilfully confronts King David over his sinful behaviour (which includes adultery and murder) through an apparently innocuous story. David, drawn into this story of injustice, realises his sin and repents.

Looking on, we may feel bewildered at this godly king’s behaviour. How could he not realise his actions were wrong? How could he be so blind to the error of his ways? How could he sleep so peacefully at night, knowing he had engineered the murder of an innocent man? Yet this story shows us the deceitfulness of sin, how we can rationalise and justify the most sinful of actions while nit-picking over the faults of others. No wonder Jesus spoke about removing the plank in our own eye before worrying about the speck of sawdust in someone else’s! (Matthew 7:3-5)

Repenting means to turn away from wrong ways. We don’t define what is wrong: God does. There is objective truth and objective moral standards governing our world, whether we believe this or not. Nathan courageously confronts David through the disarming power of story. When the conviction of God comes upon David, there is wholehearted repentance (see Psalm 51).

We tend to see repentance as a turning from wrongdoing, but it is also a turning towards God. On Ash Wednesday, we admit our sinfulness and wrongdoing and call on God for mercy. His mercy is the hope we have that we can be forgiven and can indeed have that fresh start.

When I was at school, I loved learning new words; two of my favourites were ‘onomatopoeia’ (which refers to the sounds of words being like what they describe such as ‘sizzle’ or ‘buzz‘) and ‘oxymoron’ (a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction.) I thought about oxymorons this morning as I read Mark 10:32: ‘the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid.’ Fearful followers? A similar oxymoron is found in Matt 28:17 after the resurrection, when we are told, ‘when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted.’

The idea of fearful followers and doubting worshippers seems incongruous (another favourite word of mine.) How can we follow God when afraid, given His repeated encouragement not to fear? How can we worship wholeheartedly while still doubting?

There are no easy answers to these questions. We are complex people in whom all manner of contradictions live. Life is rarely as black and white as we would like; there are many shades of colour (even many shades of grey!)

As we stand on the threshold of Lent (today is Shrove Tuesday, tomorrow Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, that 40 day period leading up to the greatest miracle the world has ever witnessed), ‘fearful followers and doubting worshippers’ seem to sum many of us up. We are bombarded with bad news on a daily basis: illness, rising costs of living, uncertainty, war. Even God’s word warns us of suffering and persecution (Jesus went on to speak to His disciples about His forthcoming death in Mark 10:33-34). And yet, at the very same time, hope flickers through, like the delicate snowdrop or the first light of dawn. We need not fear. We need not doubt. The Lord is still with us. The Lord is near.

Peter asks us what kind of people we ought to be (2 Pet 3:11) right after he has been teaching about the day of the Lord, the heavens disappearing with a roar, the elements being destroyed by fire, the earth being laid bare (2 Pet 3:10) – apocalyptic, scary stuff. Not for him the fatalistic pessimism you might expect or the hedonistic ‘eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die’ attitude of others. No, his advice is to live holy and godly lives, making every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with God. (2 Pet 3:11, 14) We are called to shine like stars in the universe, holding to the word of life. (Phil 2:15-16).

The world has enough fear and doubt to last a lifetime. God’s people are called to lay down fear and doubt and be filled with the faith, hope and love Jesus has died to purchase for us. If you want to give up anything for Lent, resolve to give up fear and doubt, no matter how dark things may look. After all, the days leading up to Easter Sunday were dark, but God still reversed the doom of death through the resurrection of Jesus. We are on the winning side; may faith, hope and love be our daily fuel as we walk through this Lent period and beyond.

Dave spoke tonight from John 4:1-38, the account of a meeting between Jesus and a woman from Samaria. Jesus said that He came to seek and save that which was lost, and here is a practical application of that. Jesus was waiting at the well when a woman came to get water. He asked for water; she was suspicious of Him, and yet through His conversation, her curiosity was aroused. Jesus spoke not of natural water but of living water, and this woman, who was an outcast in many ways because of her lifestyle (she was living with a man after being in other relationships previously) was drawn to Him and ultimately came to realise that He was the Messiah.

The woman was ultimately so taken by all she learned from Jesus that she forgot her chores, leaving the water jar at the well to go and tell others about Jesus. She had a new purpose and new hope in her life. Suddenly, her life had new direction and she was prepared to speak to everyone about this man! Jesus is still in the business of seeking out people who have hungry hearts. It doesn’t matter how empty we may feel: He can fill people with new life and hope. Many other people believed in Jesus as a result of His conversation with this woman; they came to hear Him for themselves and found salvation too. Nothing is impossible when God moves. The Holy Spirit can speak through ordinary words and bring people to salvation. Will we believe that He can do this again, that He can use our testimony to bring others to know Him?

WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU

In Matt 20:29-34, we see two blind men crying out to Jesus for mercy. His question to them (‘What do you want me to do for you?‘) led to the honest answer, ‘Lord, we want our sight.’ These two men received a miraculous gift of healing and followed Jesus as a result. They have much to teach us about honest, faith-filled, direct asking and about expectation and excitement in their encounter with Jesus.

So often, we find the many positive promises about prayer in the Bible too good to be true (see Matt 7:7-8, John 14:13-14, John 16:23-24, 1 John 5:14-15). Yet James reminds us that ‘you do not have because you do not ask God.’ (James 4:2) Our view of God will determine how we approach Him. Jesus encouraged us to see Him as a heavenly Father who longs to give good gifts to His children (Matt 7:11, Luke 11:13) and taught that it is more blessed to give than receive. When we see God’s delight in answering prayer and understand that He does not reproach us for asking directly and with simple faith for the things we need (as we are taught to do in the Lord’s Prayer), we can approach God with confidence (see Heb 4:15).

The two men recognised Jesus as Lord and as the Son of David, God’s chosen one. Their request for mercy showed they realised their need of Jesus. Cries for mercy are always heard by God (see Ps 116:1-2, Ps 18:6, Ps 28:6, Ps 31:22), no matter where we are (in the belly of a fish as Jonah was, in a fiery furnace as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were or in the lions’ den as Daniel was). We can have confidence in approaching God and can pour out the desires of our hearts to Him, secure in the knowledge that He loves us and longs to give good gifts to us (see James 1:17) Many of us live with the attitude ‘blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.’ This is not a Biblical view, for those who hope in the Lord shall lack no good thing and will not be disappointed (Ps 25:3). We need to be like these two men, approaching Jesus with honesty, simplicity, faith and expectancy.

Here are some dates for the diary for March:

1. Lent Bible studies (using the book ‘Sharing The Easter Story’) will start this Friday (4th March) at 11.45 a.m. We will start with a light lunch and aim to finish by 1.15 p.m.

2. The World Day of Prayer is on Friday 4th March at 2.30 p.m. at St Andrew’s Church in Bolton-on-Dearne, looking at the theme of the plans God has for us, based on Jeremiah 29:11.

3. Our ‘Take Back The Streets’ prayer meeting is on Saturday 5th March, meeting at GPCC at 10 a.m. Join us to pray as we walk the streets of Goldthorpe.

4. The ‘Churches Together’ prayer meeting will be on Wednesday 16th March at 1.30 p.m. at Furlong Road Methodist Church.