One of the really positive ways we can fulfil God’s laws is by helping others. Paul says, ‘Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.’ (Phil 2:3-4)

Helping other people will cost us time, effort and prayer; sometimes, it will even cost us money, but the rewards are far more than the cost.

Our church could not function without the help of all the members – people who give sacrificially of their time, energies and money to help other people. Today, I want to salute you all! – those who faithfully help at youth club on Mondays, often coming from work after a busy day to deal with loud, boisterous children… those who faithfully serve others at coffee mornings, making drinks and offering a listening ear… those who prepare for Communion each week… those who set up and clear away for Parent & Toddler and make drinks for Mums who appreciate a chat and adult conversation… those who give lifts to people so they can get to church and doctor’s appointments and other places… those who prepare lessons for Sunday school… those who practise instruments to lead us in worship… those who clean the church… those who spend time in prayer and study to bring us God’s Word… those who support the different activities put on and do so cheerfully, gladly and with one desire only: to help other people.

Heb 6:10 says, ‘God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.’ As we serve others, we serve Jesus. (Matt 25:31-46)

Last night, we sang the Doug Horley song ‘Is there a plank in your eye?’, a song based on Matt 7:3-5 which reminds us that it’s not wise to criticise others for minor things if we are blind to our own faults. It’s a funny song with a sobering truth to it and whenever I sing it, I rub my nose, remembering vividly a sketch we once did based on these verses which involved a DIY plank (thankfully made of foam, not wood) which connected rather more sharply with my nose than we had intended! (For at least five minutes, I was convinced my nose had been broken by this connection!)

This morning, one of the emails I receive talked about ‘Pirate Plank-Eye’ and I was struck again by the imaginative use of metaphor. Lex, the writer, said, ‘Whenever I find something lacking in somebody else – whether that’s their spelling, or worse still, their character, it’s an opportunity to check to see if I’ve become Plank-Eye, the Pirate! Carl Jung dug into this territory too with his wonderful understanding of the Shadow. To simplify the thought: what we cannot tolerate in others is often an aspect of ourselves that we haven’t come to terms with!’

Not only do we need to give up grumbling for Lent, but we need to learn self-examination and kindness – to ourselves and to others. If we stop fault-finding, we may well find grace and good things buried under the rubble of mistakes. If we give up the sticks we use to beat ourselves and others up, we may well discover echoes of mercy and whispers of love instead of whines of discontent and mumbling moans!

In 1 Cor 10, we have a historical overview of the journey of the children of Israel in the wilderness. We read of very blatant sins such as idolatry and sexual immorality, but in the middle of that chapter comes a verse which tends to prick most of us: ‘And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.’ (1 Cor 10:10)

Ouch! Finding that grumbling is listed up there with idolatry and sexual immorality brings me up short. The word often translated ‘grumble’ means to murmur or mutter with discontent. God’s people constantly grumbled against Moses (see Ex 15:24, Ex 16:2, Ex 17:3, Num 14:2, Num 16:41, to name but a few examples!) This discontented grumbling resulted in the people dying in the desert, failing to enter into the Promised Land because of their unbelief. Paul goes on to say, ‘These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!’ (1 Cor 10:11-12)

Grumbling easily becomes a default setting, a mindset that leads to mutterings and complaining. The antidote to grumbling is cultivating a grateful, thankful heart. Instead of focussing on the things which displease us, we choose to focus on the ways God blesses us and pours out gifts lavishly on us. Instead of looking for people’s faults and majoring on these, we choose to look for the good things they do and the virtues they possess and ponder these. Giving up grumbling is enormously liberating. It makes you feel good and everyone else does too!

We also had a birthday to celebrate!

Stephen spoke from Micah 2 tonight, looking at the question of forward planning and how we can ensure that God’s plans are foremost in our lives. When a house is built, detailed plans are needed so that the builder knows exactly what materials are needed, in what quantity and how the house is to look:

We know from Jer 29:11 that God has good plans for each one of us, but so often, self-planning takes over when we consider plans for our lives and we become more interested in how we interpret life’s plans than in discovering God’s plans for our lives. God’s ways are best, however, and for us to move forward in life, we need to understand that every aspect of our lives includes God. God wants to be in everything. We can be very focussed in making plans for our lives, having tunnel vision, but the Christian life is not meant to be lived entirely through self-motivation. Instead, our lives need to reflect God’s involvement and planning, rather like a knitted garment may have two strands of wool knitted together to make a new whole. God works in and through us and wants us to make plans with Him, instead of trying to manage on our own.

The victory over the Amalekites (Ex 17:8-16) reminds us of the importance of working together and the value of corporate prayer. There is great value in praying individually, but God clearly expects His people to come together to pray.

So often, we treat prayer as something inconsequential, something insignificant, ‘a walking stick to help us through the uneven journey of life’ (Bill Versteeg), when actually it is a powerful weapon that can smash warped philosophies and tear down barriers erected against the truth of God.

It’s time for us to change our perception of prayer from something common to something extraordinary, from a simple walking stick that helps us hobble through life, a crutch or a prop,  to something which can change cultures and lives and communities. I’m old enough to remember the threat that Communism was felt to be to the church: how believers were imprisoned and tortured because of their faith and how organisations such as Open Doors set up a seven-year prayer campaign in 1982 against the Communist bloc. How could praying lead to the downfall of political regimes? The fact remains that seven years later, in 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, Glasnost became the political order of the day and Communism fell in Eastern Europe. Today, the threats may seem very different to us, but again, prayer will always be our best weapon against every philosophy, religion and culture which sets itself up against God.

We do well to understand that prayer is about much more than asking God to bless us and protect us; it is His weapon to us to defeat every enemy. Prayer is transformative, powerful and the means to victory, but it looks ordinary and is time-consuming and hard work. It has to be done in faith, because there seems to be nothing to it. How could two men holding up another man’s hands and keeping a staff in the air bring about victory? It seems an utterly ludicrous battle strategy, but we see here again the powerful results of prayer.

Moses couldn’t win the battle on his own, and neither can we. It’s crucial that we realise prayer is a powerful spiritual weapon, but it’s also crucial that we realise we need to pray together. There is power in corporate prayer. We need to come together regularly – far more regularly than we are currently doing, I have to say – and seek God’s face together. If we are to defeat the wiles of the enemy, if we are to be a blessing to our community, we have to be equipped with God’s word and we have to pray. There is no other route to blessing and to victory. We have to be prepared to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing (1 Tim 2:8), understanding that as we raise our hands in the sanctuary and praise God (Ps 134:2), we are offering ourselves wholly to God, which is the only thing God really wants from us. Lifting our hands has no magic significance in itself, any more than the staff of Moses had any power in itself, but as we do this, God sees our hearts and accepts our offering, using it – and us! –  in ways that are truly remarkable. Let’s pray in faith and let’s pray together!