Readings:
2 Sam 18: 5-9, 15. 31-33;
Psalm 130;
Ephesians 4: 25 – 5:2;
John 6:35. 41-51

Collect:
Lord of heaven and earth,
as Jesus taught his disciples to be persistent in prayer,
give us patience and courage never to lose hope,
but always to bring our prayers before you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Reflection

This week I have been immersed in the book of Daniel, well the highlights of the first six chapters anyway.  What has struck me is Daniel and his friends utter and unshakable faith in God.  They had complete trust in God, so much so they felt able to refuse to eat food offered to them in the Royal Babylonian Courts, they trusted that God would provide them not only with the interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream but also explain to the king what the dream was in the first place.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego then stood firm before the king as they refused to bow down to the golden image saying they’d rather be thrown into the flaming fiery furnace.  Once again Daniel trusted that God would provide him with the interpretation for the ghostly writing that appeared on the wall at the banquet King Belshazzar was having and finally Daniel once again put his trust in God when he refused to obey King Darius’ law and instead continued to pray to God, resulting in him spending the night with the lions.  Throughout all that Daniel and his friend went through they never once lost trust in God.

When you contrast Daniel with Elijah, whom we encounter in the reading from the book of Kings, they couldn’t be more different.  For we see Elijah was afraid and ran for his life, hiding in the wilderness praying that he might die.  He’d ha d enough and wanted to give up.  God, on the other hand, had other ideas and provided nourishment and encouragement to Elijah.  Feeling refreshed, Elijah was able to carry on his journey travelling for 40 days and nights until he reaches Horeb, the mountain of God and there he waited until God spoke to him.

There are times when I guess we all feel that life has got too much for us.  That we want to give up.  But God has other plans.  God has nurtured and shaped us to be who we are, providing us with the wisdom, the strength, and the courage we need to do what God has called us to do.  All we need to do is TRUST!  It sounds easy, but it’s not.  I’m not sure how I would have reacted when faced with the flaming fiery furnace or having to stand up to Kind Belshazzar speaking truth to power.  I am thankful that I don’t find myself in this situation because I am lucky enough to live in a relatively open and tolerant country.  However, there are times when you and I are called to take a stand for our faith. Times when it is easier for us to follow the crowd, do try and do what is popular but God wants us to make a difference.  To challenge and speak truth to power.  To stand up for those who are oppressed and seek justice.  When we do this, we can find ourselves facing ridicule and persecution and we certainly won’t be popular.

In the autumn we will be hosting COP26, an opportunity for the world to take the climate emergency seriously.  Maybe, some of the truth we need to be speaking to power is about the radical changes that we need to be making to stop us heading for disaster.  These actions aren’t going to be vote winners, they’re not going to be popular but somehow we need to be encouraging those in power to make these changes.  There are other things that as Christians God calls all to stand up against whether that’s the plight of refugees crossing the channel who are demonized by the press and politicians.  Or the growing disparity between the rich and poor of our country.  

When we make a stand on these issues, we may not face death or persecution, but we certainly won’t make ourselves popular. But just like Daniel, we need to stand firm and trust that God will give us the wisdom and courage we need to respond to the tasks that God has called us to.

God spoke to Daniel and to Elijah – I wonder what God may be saying to you today.