The Church by the Bridge - 100 Years of Good News
We live in a very multifaceted world; this week I had to fly to Scotland and just looking around in the airport and the aeroplane made this so apparent. Even though we were all travellers we were all so diverse speaking different languages coming from different cultures, having different colours, shapes, backgrounds and also travel purposes.
During my trip, as I was looking around there was a family in the row of the airplane in front of me, mother, father, toddler and small baby. At first sight, they came across as completely oblivious to their surroundings; they were very late onto the plane and then showed no polite respect for luggage convention - rather than deferentially opening every overhead bin to look for a readily presented space, they just shoved their big bag into the nearest one and strew the rest of them around them as they sat down in their seats allowing the plane to start the take-off routine.
Then, during the flight the dad lovingly held the toddler whilst the baby was with the mum. After a while they swapped, and whilst the mum looked after the toddler the dad started feeding the baby. On descent the dad then played with the baby committedly, making him giggle with delight rather than scream from the ear pressure. A beautiful scene of family life.
On the rows behind and in front of this family, business people were hammering the keys of their laptops, to the left a bunch of students talking and joking animatedly with each other with the visible joy of being together. To the left and right of me people with headphones on watching films on their mobiles.
All so very different, and yet we all so equal. Equal in that we are all created in the image of our maker, diverse as we are – woman, man, mother, father, daughter, son, family, couple or lone traveller, young or more mature. We all have a story, we all come from somewhere, we all go somewhere, we all had disappointments in the past or even present and we all have experienced joys in the past or present.
Being so individual and diverse we are also all so equal. Equal in our humanity. The statistics tells us there are around 68 million people living in Britian. A huge number, yet made up of 68 million individuals.
But in our individualism, we are all also radically equal. Equal in that we were all born naked and needy, and equal that we all will go to rest one day.
The question is what do we do with our God given life between these two events?
The apostle Paul writes this on this topic: ‘We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s’ (Romans 14:8).
Jesus is there in the good times and the challenging. In the joys of family life with toddlers and new-borns, with business people in long days, and also with those who can’t even dream of ever sitting on plane due to current circumstances.
Our God is a fully inclusive God, a God who rejoices with our joys and a God who cries with our pains. Our God is a God who wants to participate in our lives. Jesus tells us ‘Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age’. (Matthew 18:20)
Is that not wonderful news as we proceed on our life’s journey?
Have a blessed week
Kai