March 2010 - Vol. 32 No. 3

Dear Friends,

If you attended the Cluster party and pantomime you may remember that Jack had to carry out a risk assessment and don a safety helmet before he climbed the beanstalk. It makes sense to try and avoid unnecessary risks. No-one wants to spend time in A & E if they can possibly help it. Even so, some of us have been heard to reminisce about the 'good old days' when we climbed trees, hurtled down hills on our bikes, careered down snow covered slopes on sledges and had a good many falls and tumbles in the process. It was a natural part of what we remember as a fairly carefree childhood. Most of us survived, or we wouldn't be here to tell the tale. If we'd had to wear cycle helmets in those far off days, I might have avoided four stitches in my forehead when I was about eight years old! Safeguarding against accidents must be good, yet we cannot eliminate all risks and dangers as we go through life.

At Christmas someone mentioned the risk God took in entering our world as a helpless infant. Now we have reached the time of year when the focus is on the adult Jesus. During Lent we remember how, after his baptism, Jesus spent time in the wilderness being tempted by the devil. Jesus overcame temptation through fasting, prayer and calling to mind words of Scripture. When he embarked on his public ministry he began to preach and teach about the Kingdom of God, and to demonstrate what that Kingdom is like through signs and wonders, not least the healing miracles which show that God wants each one of us to be whole.

Jesus came as the Light of the World, exposing the darkness in the world and those areas of darkness in the human heart. He had enemies as well as friends. Not everyone could bear to let that bright light shine into the darkness inside them. It's not comfortable to stand beneath the all-seeing gaze of God and, unless you are prepared to allow the Holy Spirit to eradicate the darkness in you and to change and transform your life and make you more like Jesus, you are sure to feel threatened. Added to that, is the desire of many leaders, religious and secular, to cling to positions of power. So they were bound to feel threatened by the superior power clearly demonstrated by Jesus.

If God had done a risk assessment before entering this world in the person of Jesus, the whole venture would probably have been called off. In his humanness, Jesus struggled as anyone would to face up to the suffering and death towards which events were moving. On the night before he died he prayed in great anguish that the cup of suffering might pass from him. Yet he was able to win through to a place where he could say to God the Father, 'Not my will but yours be done'. Because Jesus was willing to take the risk, even though it cost him his life, we can stand on the far side of the cross and give thanks for all that Jesus endured for us. We also know that this was not the end of the story.

During Lent we prepare to remember the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, and to celebrate his resurrection from the dead. Whether our journey through this life involves little risk and leaves us relatively unscathed, or whether we live a life of high adventure and have many mishaps along the way, all of us must one day pass from this life.

Revd Glynis Hetherington