Compline Tuesday of Holy Week 7^thApril 2020

“The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God”.   1 Corinthians 1.18

“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains a single grain; but if it dies it bears much fruit.”   John 12.24

As I said in my homily on Sunday, we have a very rich diet of scripture in this Holy Week.  We have images and stories coming at us from all directions and there are ample opportunities for the Word of God to talk into our current predicament and work upon our hearts.  I am not referring to the “the pandemic is God’s punishment for the sins of humanity” type judgment, that only make us as Christians look silly, but to let the words sink into our very being and acknowledge the truth of what they say to us.

One of the most difficult commodities to get hold of in our much-reduced globalised consumer society in the wake of lockdowns and panic buying, is flour.  It seems there is a finite amount and much of it was snapped up in the early days of shortage so now some have and are holding on to it while others are having to go without.  This gets to the essence of what both Jesus and St Paul are trying to tell us.

The wisdom of the world tells us that we are entitled to what we want, when we want it, and if we do not get it – or get something we did not want – we have access to law to get compensation.  But this means that the stronger survive, the weak go to the wall. The strong write the narrative, the weak hear it and try to join in, but cannot.

If I have something in this world, someone else has to go without it. If I throw it away because I realise I no longer need it, or even that I think I have worn it out, that takes whatever it is away from those who might have had it a second time.  St Benedict, 1400 years ago, wrote about having clothing, food or tools sufficient for every occasion, but not to be surprised by a surfeit. Things that were no longer required in his monastery were given away to those who might find use for them. Someone else may well welcome and value that which the world tells me to throw away.  To give away something or to go without it in the first place for the benefit of someone we may not even know, is not folly but the power of God.

From the beginning the Holy Spirit, coming from God, has been active in the world, latterly working in and through us so that we may serve our brothers and sisters, especially those who are less fortunate than we are.  The grain of wheat, by giving itself, is transformed into more of itself for the benefit of those who would receive it. If we give away ourselves, in the power of the spirit, to the care of our brothers and sisters, we grow into a blessing for all who come into contact with us, even if only indirectly.

The folly of this world says hoard and keep, the wisdom of God says give yourself and all you have away.  We see this latter in the volunteer groups, the foodbanks and community networks that have sprung up in recent weeks, and it is by this selfless giving that as many of us as possible will come through this pandemic, changed I hope, but much the stronger for it.

Compline Monday of Holy Week 6^thApril 2020

Matthew 27 verse 24

“So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot as beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”

This section of the Passion narrative has been sitting with me, nagging at me for a couple of days.  Pilate has been trying to release Jesus, offering Him in a traditional release of prisoners, but the crowd would not have it.

Pilate sees the writing on the wall and in this verse, gives us the expression that we use to mean that we turn our backs on things that we cannot influence or change.  This has me wondering just what we might “wash our hands of” in a more positive way, more like the handwashing that we are encouraged to do during this pandemic, not so much turning our backs on, as removing from our faith those things which cling and infect it.

One of these things is our image of God.  We often begin with the idea of God on his emerald throne, all powerful and in control of all that we do.  But in this world’s current predicament whether it be Covid-19, Climate Change or natural disaster and all powerful God doesn’t compute.  If, however, we begin from the position where God is powerless – as Jesus is before Pilate and then on the Cross, meeting us in the messiness and fear, the pain and the mental anguish of our human existence – then we have a place to begin and watch as He takes all that messiness with him to the Throne, a journey from suffering and death to the life we have been assured is ours for the taking.