Happenings 20 July 2018

Hurt people hurt people. We’ve all seen it happen. I’ve certainly seen it in myself. When hurt, my desire for justice and retribution is sometimes only matched by my lack of desire to forgive! The problem is, it’s not a fleeting problem. We hurt and we get hurt all the time … bumped and bruised by the jostling of relationships and circumstances, having to tread again the well-worn road from bitterness/guilt to forgiveness/apology. I’ve been there enough times that it should be easy by now, but strangely it isn’t, although in my better moments perhaps I walk that road a little more quickly. I love that Jesus shows us how to handle injustice and pain … although copying his example seems largely beyond me! John Stott once wrote this: In the course of my travels I have entered a number of Buddhist temples in different Asian countries. I have stood respectfully before a statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, serene and silent, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in my imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. The crucified one is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us, dying in our place in order that we might be forgiven. David, too, suffered injustice, and at times handled it admirably. So, if you need some upskilling in this area (as I do!), let’s explore this Sunday one of the more dramatic moments in his life – 1 Samuel 24.
 
In Him, 
Murray