King at 8 years of age!

Can you remember being 8 years of age? I can't really remember that age exactly, but I do remember being a child and how simple life seemed to be. So, can you imagine being asked to be a sovereign ruler at just 8 years young? I couldn't think of anything worse - the sheer weight of that responsibility must be crippling. 

One of Jesus' ancestors, King Josiah, was made King when he was just 8, succeeding his father Amon, who had been assassinated. Josiah was an influential King - for all the right reasons. 2 Kings 2 describes his reign in this way: “And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.” (v.22)

Another of the highlights of his reign was that ordered the restoration of the temple, and it was during this rebuilding process that the book of the Law was rediscovered. He then instituted a campaign of reformation and returning to the Lord:

“The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant” (2 Kings 23:3).

Advent is a time when we should rediscover the ancient story of God's love for us, and then as we retell the Gospel stories, we should recommit our ways to God. I find that the Nativity never gets stale or boring for me - I love being reminded of the child, who was born a King! 

Jesus didn't have to wait until he was 8 before he was anointed as King - we honour him as the One born to rule!

Living in Grace

D3LM3

20 - Lord, have mercy

 

<sup>I believe it is vital for us to remain focused on the mercy and grace of Jesus during these unprecedented times. Our liturgical season of Lent teaches us to remember our sins, our brokenness and human frailty, BUT also to know that we are Redeemed and Rescued by God. There is a clear shifted from death to life; pain to healing; sin to salvation. 

In our reflection in Matthew today we see the blind men begging Jesus for mercy and even as they call out to him others are trying to shut them up. Let us be reassured that Jesus hears our calls for mercy at this time. 

29</sup> As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. ³⁰ Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
³¹ The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
³² Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
³³ “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”
³⁴ Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him." - Matthew 20:29-34

Perhaps the request of the blind men could be our spiritual question too?
Lord please open our eyes in these days to see as you would see and to love like you loved.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Restorer par excellence

Isaiah 58:12 - "Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."

I love this scripture. It clearly speaks of a God who delights in restoring and repairing broken people and nations. Where most of us couldn't be bothered to rebuild, repair or restore, Advent teaches us that Jesus offers to do all three.

Don't give up if you are feeling a little tatty and broken - God is our Restorer par excellence.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

A Sword - Ezekiel

A sword is a powerful weapon in the hands of a mighty warrior. It can be used to defend a family from the threat of an enemy, as well as be used to go on the attack in battle. We don't use swords much anymore, but we still understand the damage they can do.

The image of the sword runs strongly through Ezekiel 21 and unfortunately it doesn't look like the Israelites will be spared from God's anger. If you are into counting the number of times a word is used in a passage, then you will see that Ezekiel uses it a lot - 14 times in this one chapter alone. The message is clear - God is not happy with Israel's unfaithfulness and he asks Ezekiel to use the image of the SWORD to make his point loud and clear.

There is however a glimmer of hope in v.27 that ties in with our Lenten theme and draws our attention to the Messiah. Ezekiel says:

I will surely destroy the kingdom.
And it will not be restored until the one appears
    who has the right to judge it.
Then I will hand it over to him.

The reason I find this to be 'hopeful' is because, even though pain and punishment will be dished out, there will also be healing and restoration. Both of these promises are fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ. And so this is the invitation we are waiting for - to turn to Christ and to trust our brokenness and failures to him, because he has already born our punishment for us.

Living in Grace
D3LM3