Simon’s Reflection for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost
“Rejoice in the Lord always!” says St Paul. We might feel that that’s easier said than done with all that is going on nowadays but we can’t very well say to St Paul: “that’s easy for you to say!” St Paul is saying those words from prison. He is on lockdown. He probably doesn’t know how long he will be in prison. He lives under the shadow of a possible flogging or perhaps even death. He doesn’t, on the face of it, seem to have much to rejoice about.
So what sustains his rejoicing? Are there things in this that can help us or is this just positive thinking taken to insane extremes?
The kind of rejoicing in the Lord and the prayerful renunciation of anxiety that goes with it is not something that comes naturally to the situation that Paul is in nor to ours at the present. It is easy not to be anxious when things are going well. But not so when things are a struggle.
Paul’s peace comes out of loving and trusting God. It comes out of prioritising the things of God. In the other readings we read of the classic image of the fullness of the Kingdom of God as a great feast. St Paul knows he has an invitation to that feast. We have an invitation too. We have to make sure the invitation is a priority in our lives and not let the distractions of life help us forget it.
But as well as the future hope of the results of what God is doing in the world, Paul knows he has present help from God as well. He is immersed in prayer. In the beautiful letter to the Philippians, he invites people to ponder what is good. Actually, this is a great antidote to anxiety for all of us. We have to work at putting into our minds all the positive things of God’s good world. All good things come from God, if we dwell on those good things, then they can help us and hopefully lead us into thanksgiving from God. We have to work at it but there is help in that direction and a favourable wind that will carry us if we turn into it.
So Paul is rooted in trust of God and prayer but also in action to join in with building this wonderful future kingdom which is God’s plan for the world. Paul, for all his troubles, has a purpose. He is active in mission. He turns his sufferings and his imprisonment into something to help others. He urges the Philippians to see their adversity as something that brings them closer to Christ who suffered for them. He urges them to be united and not to argue among themselves. He urges them to “let their gentleness be known” to everyone.
This Sunday is kept by many churches as “Homeless Sunday.” I know in the past year, there have been times when I’ve felt a bit restricted about being confined to home but at least I have a home to be confined to and rather a nice one, with a garden.
In Scotland in 2019 5300 adults slept rough at least once a year and those sleeping rough regularly are 17 times more likely to be a victim of violence and die 30 years younger on average than the rest of us. While the Governments have made efforts to put people into temporary accommodation during the COVID crisis the nature of that accommodation with small bedsits, shared toilets made it more difficult for people to keep safe and to bear with the restrictions earlier in the year than the rest of us. There are also worries about what will happen in the coming months and church night shelters will not be able to help the homeless in the way they normally do this winter because of the hygiene restrictions. For many of us, it’s quite a leap if imagination to imagine what it’s like to have to live in these ways.
I have only occasionally heard of people sleeping rough in North Berwick, Gullane, Aberlady and Dirleton, but we do of course have many people struggling to pay their rents or their mortgages. We have many young people who can’t afford a home of their own and have to stay in their parental home and a lack of affordable housing for those on low incomes.
So how can we as Christians “let our gentleness be known”? Well, perhaps we can be more aware of the situation that others may be in. We can pray. We can speak out and campaign more for housing justice on our committees and our forums. We can give.
Our two churches have traditionally supported the Bethany Christian Trust, which has an excellent video on their website, and Scottish Churches Housing Action. We had also started collecting items for HomeStart Edinburgh but they have had to suspend their operations in the present crisis. There are many other housing charities, of course, that we might want to support like Shelter Scotland.
Jesus said: “Foxes have their holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” As we think of the homeless today, may we be drawn closer to Our Lord who was homeless: May we find that in trusting God, in prayer, in giving thanks and in helping others we find the gift that God gives of his peace that passes all understanding. Amen.