From the locum
This week our lectionary readings are all about choices. On the one hand there is the choice to abandon our devotion to God and God’s ways. In this morning’s Gospel selection from John, many of Jesus’ followers find his call to be completely united with him – to believe that he is the source of life and to take him into their beings (eating his flesh and drinking his blood) – too much to handle and they abandon Jesus. But, his disciples, although they may be feeling like they want to go, recognise that life is found in Christ and so remain faithful. In the Old Testament related reading, Joshua calls the people to choose where they will put their devotion, while making his own commitment to God clear and public. In a similar way, Psalm 34 describes the differences between those who stay faithful to God and those who are “wicked”. Linked with our choice to follow Jesus there is a call to prayer in this week’s Lectionary. In the famous passage from Ephesians, Paul calls the believers to prepare themselves for the attacks of evil by putting on God’s armour (making a choice to stay faithful), and he calls them to prayer for themselves and for him as he seeks to spread the Gospel.
The theme this week’s readings is simple and clear: everyday we will be faced with the choice to remain faithful to Christ or to turn away, and we will need the intimacy with God that comes through prayer and through sharing in the life of Christ to remain true to our calling. In a world where religion is being questioned and falling out of fashion, and in which many parts of the Church are in decline, this choice, and the call to prayer, are as important as ever.
Fr Michael