Lent is often thought of as a solemn period of lamenting over sin, and it’s good at times to spend time in reflection and repentance. Our current situation may well contribute to a sense of sadness and sorrow, but this does not mean we have to be miserable people. Joy is another fruit of the Spirit which needs to grow within us in all seasons. Joy is the source of strength (Neh 8:10) and was promised to every believer by Jesus (John 17:13) It’s not something only to be found in happy circumstances; it’s a deep-rooted conviction that God is in control and therefore we can face life with positive hope.

Joy is not just about happy feelings, about clapping and singing and shouting praise (though it will usually result in those things!) It is a choice we make every day to look for the good things God is doing and to give thanks for those things. When we struggle to see good things, we can give thanks for who God is – that list never runs out!

We serve a Saviour who understands and embraces all emotions. Jesus wept at the death of his friend. (John 11:35) One of His titles was the ‘man of sorrows’, a man of suffering who was familiar with pain. (Is 53:3) To embrace joy is not to deny that there are seasons of tears and pain and grief: surely this Easter season reminds us of this, if nothing else. But we go through those seasons knowing there is ultimately joy to be embraced: ‘For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.’ (Heb 12:2)

A lovely song to remind us of truth: God is good when life is not. (Click on the title below to listen.)

‘I choose to worship, I choose to bow,
Though there’s pain in the offering I lay it down,
Here in the conflict when doubt surrounds,
Though my soul is unravelling I choose You now.

I will praise You through the fire,
Through the storm and through the flood.
There is nothing that could ever steal my song.
In the valley You are worthy.
You are good when life is not.
You will always and forever be my song.

I build my altar right here and now
In the midst of the darkest night it won’t burn out,
For You are perfect no matter what
In the joy or the suffering I sing it loud

I will praise You through the fire
Through the storm and through the flood
There is nothing that could ever steal my song
In the valley You are worthy
You are good when life is not
You will always and forever be my song

When the enemy says I’m done, I lift my praises.
When my world comes crashing down, I lift my praises high,
‘Til the darkness turns to dawn I lift my praises,
I choose to worship;
I choose You now.
When the enemy says I’m done, I lift my praises.
When my world comes crashing down, I lift my praises high.
‘Til the darkness turns to dawn I lift my praises.
I choose to worship
I choose You now
I choose to worship
I choose You now.’ (‘I Choose To Worship’, Rend Collective)

In this topsy-turvy world of self-isolation and social distancing, where many people are working from home or trying to home-school children whilst others are still going to work even though nothing seems normal anymore, I’ve been reflecting on how my life has changed this past week. Religous staff are classed as ‘key workers’, apparently, so work is continuing… but it’s both the same as it’s always been and vastly different.

It’s the same because prayer, study of the Bible and contact with other people remain at the heart of pastoral work, and those things don’t really change. Prayer and studying the word of God can be done anywhere, so in that sense this part of my work has always been done from home. I suppose it’s the contact with other people and the format of services which have changed so radically.

We can no longer gather together in our church building for services, nor can we run our community groups there (youth club & Parent & Toddler group from there). Seeing people face to face isn’t really possible at the moment, and so we have been hugely busy setting up online services (having to learn how to livestream via Facebook and Zoom in about an hour!) and making sure we have contact with people through texting, phoning and Facebook Messenger. That’s been a challenge because everybody’s preferred method of communication is different and I’m no guru when it comes to technology. This week I’ve learnt how to set up a WhatsApp group, livestream services and sort a new phone (my battery chose the most inconvenient time to wither and die) and without Garry, not much of that would have had successful outcomes! Unsurprisingly, he has risen to these technological challenges and has even confessed to enjoying them. (And therein lies the difference between us!) We’ve had to deal with legal requirements regarding licences (for livestreaming music) and so on – the nitty-gritty of administration which goes on behind the scenes all the time, but which suddenly pushed its way to the forefront, amongst everything else!

The pace of work has been hectic this week as I’ve tried to keep in touch with people (especially the elderly who don’t have access to the Internet: a huge wave to Royal Mail who have been delivering my cards and parcels with consummate ease!) Services have to be planned more carefully as we are currently on a time limit for them; we’re looking ahead and trying to accommodate whether people have access to Facebook, Zoom, smartphones and so on. Many people find technology as difficult as I do and feel like throwing their phones out of the window! We won’t always be able to reach everybody all the time, so I’m trying to blog, post online and through the letterbox, text and phone to make sure people are still receiving God’s word and still able to pray.

As far as the community groups go, it’s much harder, but I’ve been overwhelmed today by the response from our Mums & Grandmas who’ve been in touch. Today’s been spent sorting out Easter crafts and chocolates to send out to them, which I hope will happen tomorrow.

So even though the church building is closed, the church is still very much alive and working hard! Individuals are doing a great job of keeping in touch with each other, caring for isolated members, offering support and help and generally working as they always do, with grace and courage and cheerfulness. Despite missing family members and missing each other, we are confident that God’s got everything in hand and we are looking forward to that day when we can be reunited in Market Street!

So, in a few weeks, months, year or maybe even decades when we look back upon the year of 2020, what will we remember? Will it be a case of us remembering that a flu-like virus brought the world to a standstill? Will the future generations learn about it in school like they learned of the Plague in this current generation?

Will it be noted that we as humans had apparently lost the concept of basic hygiene? -washing our hands after we do things. Well, let us hope it is not remembered for something like that!

Let us remember for years and even decades the leaders of the world sat around tables discussing the impact we as humans have on our environment. But all these discussions ended up being were just discussions, with no real action taken. Why? –  because each one had their own hidden agenda, thinking only about what was best for them and not what was best for the planet. All talk and no action.

Mother Nature had to step in herself and push the reset button. It does not need eco warriors to save the world, but rather each one of us to play our part. Maybe we will remember 2020 as the time where the balance between death and birth rates were reset as the impact of our growth had become too heavy for Mother Nature to support.

This may well be remembered as the time when we had to isolate ourselves from friends and family because we did not want to spread the virus. Because of that isolation, we have been missing that quality time spent face to face with each other. Perhaps this will teach people, however, to reconnect with people and learn to talk to each other again. Maybe this will teach us to spend time with our loved ones now, not waiting until they have died to say, ‘if only I had spent more time with them.’ Maybe this is our opportunity to celebrate life now, and not create shrines to our loved ones when they die.

Technology has been wonderful during these times, showing us ways of connecting to people when we can’t see them face to face. It has shown businesses that there is no need for people to be driving all over just so they can be in an office, or a meeting. It has shown us that many people can work from home – and that does help us with family /work balance so we can spend time with the people that are dearest to us.

There are so many opportunities right now for us to spend that quality time with our families. Parents can teach their kids to cook from scratch and teach them about healthy eating. We can plan meals and shop for only what we need instead of being driven by a consumer society. The opportunity to go for walks together is fantastic. We can teach our kids life skills, so that they will not make the same mistakes our generation has made.

Technology can be used really positively, as we are seeing at this present time. It’s a way to connect with people, research useful things and help to ease the physical isolation we’re facing. We need to take the positives and let our grip loosen on the negatives. Maybe one of the biggest things we will remember about 2020 is that God can bring good out of every situation.

Lessons To Learn

When we look back on 2020, I think there will be important lessons for us all to learn:

• Respect people from all walks of life – the ‘key workers’ may have been looked down on in the past, but if this teaches us anything, it’s the importance of everyone’s roles and jobs in a society which needs us all. Maybe this will stop us taking people for granted and really learn to value everyone. God’s word tells us that ‘you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.’ (1 Cor 12:27) We as Christians already know that we all have different parts to play in the body of Christ and we should respect each other at all times; maybe now we can see that in every area of our society and get a more balanced view of work (including pay!)

• Re-evaluate our priorities in every area of life. That means valuing our relationships more and learning to look after each other with tenderness and compassion. Ephesians 4:32 says, ‘Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.’ 2020 may well be remembered for the panic buying and the greed and selfishness of people, but let’s pray it will also be remembered for the kindness and compassion of people to each other. There are people who need our help every day – maybe this will be remembered as the time when neighbours re-connected and the elderly were cared for, as God wants us to do every day. Maybe as a church, this will be the time when we really learned to connect with each other outside of our church building, because we couldn’t meet inside it!

• Learn the importance of eternal priorities. We’ve become a society where a whole generation seems to want to be a celebrity or a famous person. May this be the time when people understand the value of hard work and think about priorities from an eternal perspective. Paul says, ‘I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.’ (Romans 8:17) We need to see life through God’s eyes and let go of our selfishness and short-termism.

Conclusion

So, when we look back, let us remember that every now and again we need to push the reset button.  Countries and world leaders can work together towards a common goal. We each have a role to play in the preservation of the planet for future generations. And for now, in the middle of it all, we can spend quality time with people, looking after each other, talking to each other, using technology wisely and most of all re-establishing the rhythms of life that God wants us to have.

Today is the day Rend Collective’s new album ‘Choose To Worship’ is released. I think their post today (see below) is very apt for us all. Worship is always a choice. Let’s choose to worship (and you can sing along on Facebook Live with them at 7 p.m. tonight – free concerts are brill!)

Til the darkness
turns to dawn
I lift my praises

There are mountaintop moments in all our lives – where we breathe in the goodness of God and breathe out His praises just as naturally and reflexively as our physical breath. Unfortunately the amount of time we spend on this “worship sweet spot” probably totals up to be about 0.1 percent of our lives. So what do we do with the other 99.9 percent? We choose to worship.

Life is hard. Worship will not always or even usually be our default setting. It’s not initially natural to respond to a cancer diagnosis, or the death of a loved one or a major career setback with a song of praise and trust. But like a pilot encountering dangerous landing conditions, when these storms gather over us we have to switch off autopilot, wrestle back the controls and manually, intentionally choose worship. Because God is still worthy in the valley. He is good when life is not. And that’s the anchor of our souls.

We used a labyrinth as our album art concept to reflect the confusing. messiness of life. So many twists and turns, so many little micro decisions, so much uncertainty and doubt, so much fear. In the middle of all this it can be so easy to forgot to make the one choice that ultimately makes all the others insignificant : to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

This album is an invitation into the spiritual discipline that we have been living as a community of building altars of praise in the darkness, trusting that whether or not the dawn comes, worship is still our sacred duty – and privilege.

We hope this album gives you a vocabulary so that you can sing from the shackles, lift an anthem of defiance against  your circumstances  and raise a shout of joy that demoralises the enemy in his attempts to silence you. We hope that that nothing will ever steal your song. We hope that you will join us in choosing worship.

There has been a lot of talk on social media recently following the suicide of celebrity Caroline Flack about the need to be kind. It’s so easy to use our words and actions to criticise, condemn and judge people, and often our words can pierce like swords. We can be careless and callous in how we treat people, often assuming the worst about them and failing to recognise their humanity. We’re very good at putting people on pedestals, but even better at knocking them off those pedestals when we realise they have feet of clay.

We’re living in abnormal times, when human greed and selfishness are evident everywhere. But at the same time, these abnormal times give us further opportunities to embrace kindness.

Kindness is another fruit of the Spirit which we need to embrace. (Gal 5:22-23) We can’t afford to favour one fruit over the other in the way we might like grapes but dislike apricots. To embrace kindness means to think before we speak, to give people the benefit of the doubt, to be proactive in thinking of ways to show love to people. Those ‘acts of random kindness’ when we might give someone a phone call, a card or a present ‘just because’ can be hugely beneficial (to us, as well as to the receiver.) We can show love through acts of service (washing up someone else’s dishes, cleaning up to help someone who is tired, cooking a meal for a friend or offering to buy a takeaway after a hard day at work). All these kind acts help us to connect to other people and to build them up. We might have to be more creative in our acts of kindness right now, but a phone call, text, card or delivery to someone might be just the thing they need. Let’s embrace kindness and stay connected through it.