20 years later

What will we be like in 20 years time?

Today's news from IS and Jordan may bring a terrible sense of shock and horror to us. Where is this going?

I recall, in 2003, on the eve of the second Iraq war, the local MP for Woking, Humfrey Malins, resigned from the Conservative front bench. He took this courageous decision because he said that the consequences of that war would be with us for at least 20 years. His long-sighted wisdom is being played out before our eyes, and it is more terrifying by the month.

Later this year, Harper Lee's first novel is to be published, in which she tells the story of what happened, 20 years later, to the members of the Finch family, after the events told so powerfully in 'To Kill a Mockingbird', her one and only book so far published. Her fans wait with baited breath to see what happened next.

But all of us live lives which move on from day to day, and sometimes we look back 20 years, and wonder how we are where we are. Taking the long view, backwards or forwards, can be challenging or daunting.

As many will know, over the last 20 years, I have become increasingly captivated by the life of Saul of Tarsus, who met the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus (capital of modern day Syria) in 34 AD.'As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” 

“Who are you, lord?” Saul asked.
And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9.3-6)

In the next 20 years, Paul travelled thousands of miles, telling the Good News about Jesus to Jews, Greeks, Romans and many others, He planted churches, wrote letters, and lived his life as a fully devoted follower of Jesus.

When writing to his friends in Corinth, in about 54 AD, Paul focused on the astonishing difference that Jesus makes to those who follow his way.' Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.' (1 Corinthians 13.4-7)

It is this radical love which will be the answer to the terrifying violence of IS or any other force in our world. This love, shown by Jesus in dying for us, is marked by deliberate sacrifice and healing action. 

Looking on 20 years, my prayer is that this love will be celebrated and experienced in the bleakest and most terrifying places on earth.

Best wishes,

Richard