On Saturday I received a nine page letter from the Scottish Government. It identified me as ‘someone at risk of severe illness’ if I catch Covid-19. This is due to my underlying health condition. There is much helpful lifestyle advice in the letter but it was a bit of a shock to be told that I should not go out at all, not even for that one walk a day. If need be I should walk in the garden or perhaps just sit on my doorstep and enjoy the view. I have to say that my first response was to think that this was a bit much and maybe my early morning jaunt with Gabrielle could still be risked. But then came a call on Monday from my local Surgery. This was to make sure that I understood the letter and that regrettably I had to observe complete isolation.
The letter was signed by the Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood. The day after it was delivered came the revelation that Dr Calderwood had not been observing her own directions to the nation with regard to living through and overcoming Covid-19. This eventually led to her resignation. Somebody has summed up the First Minister’s statement in the wake of the the resignation: the messenger had to go but the message remains. The CMO had fallen short but the relevance and the urgency of the message must not be forgotten.
The whole business underlines the challenges faced by those of us who seek to communicate high standards of conduct which we believe should be embraced by others. How do our lives measure up? The message may be good. If we are talking about the Gospel then we have there ‘the greatest truths anybody could ever stumble upon.’ But what about the messenger? How can we dare to commend standards of conduct which we know within ourselves tax us to the limit?
Maybe you know what it’s like to read a passage of Scripture which causes you to look within yourself and you realise that living this out is as far away from you as flying to the moon? Spare a thought and a prayer for those of us who go through that experience but yet have the calling to present a congregation of God’s people with what has been gathered in the Word.
Tuesday in Holy Week is traditionally regarded as the Day of Conflict, Jesus teaching in the Temple and coming up against the opposition of the religious establishment. This is where we really see the dark side of Jesus’ teaching, making it plain to the teachers of the law and the Pharisees that though they might be well versed in the ancient Scriptures they really don’t shape up when it comes to living according to God’s will. They are denounced as ‘white-washed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.‘ Jesus goes on:
‘In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.’ (Matthew 23: 28)
Rewind to the beginning of Matthew 23 and you discover that Jesus has no quarrel with what they teach. The problem is the Word has not made sufficient impact on their lives to shape attitudes and priorities:
‘Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.’ (Verses 1-4)
Again I ask, how can anyone dare to preach the Word of God when like all humanity we are prone to fall? In engaging in conflict with the religious establishment of His day Jesus is revealing the conflict within all Christians whether they are preachers or not. We take our stand on the most important message that can ever be heard by human ears but how do our lives reflect the message? Yet this is the way Jesus has planned it. When He launched His great mission to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28: 16-20) He sent out people like you and me who were imperfect, made mistakes, were subject to many of the shortcomings that unsettle our inner lives. But these were the people He called to build His Church. In the end, it is only Jesus who is the perfect example of Gospel values.
So we are His people in these strange and bewildering days, inwardly conflicted at times perhaps, but Paul the Apostle knew what that was like and still remained convinced that within the fragile jars of clay that are our lives we hold a treasure that enables us to be witnesses of His truth. (2 Corinthians 4: 7)
Let’s get back to that passage of Scripture that has really got under your skin. Maybe it’s 1 Corinthians 13 and the qualities of Christian love. You see that you fall short of this so what is your response? If you are a preacher you might think it’s time to pack it in lamenting this impossible job you have been given. But if the Word is having this impact on you, revealing what needs to be changed, then the way forward is to trust that this Word will have the same effect on those who will gather to listen. This is how a preacher holds on to his/her role with integrity. We are not ‘better’ than anyone else. We are part of a community seeking to be closer to God and to live according to His ways. Within this community we have a role to keep before our brothers and sisters the eternal truths as we have experienced them.
In my BB days I went on a 26 mile sponsored walk. I had only a vague idea where we were going but we had an officer who had studied the map and was able to keep us on track. He didn’t do this by radio or in a car. He was walking the way with us, told us where to turn, when to stop, when we were coming up to a difficult bit. That’s like the preacher. He/she is part of a community which is seeking to live closer to God and to be His witnesses. His/her role is to study the map and keep the route before his/her brothers and sisters in the faith.
Each of us lives with inner lives that know conflict. In the end we need to trust that God knew what He was doing when he called us to serve and He will sustain us in the work He has given each of us to do.
