Episode 156 - Coated in Christ

This weekend I cleaned my cooker. As part of cleaning it I also cleaned the pan supports (the metal things on top of the hob that go over the gas burners – yes I did have to google their name). My pan supports are black. No, not dirty, they’re actually supposed to be that colour. I discovered that, as I scrubbed the burnt on crust that covered it with my metal scourer, to reveal what was underneath. I was amazed though, that whilst my vigorous scrubbing had removed all of the dirt, it hadn’t made a single mark on the finish of the pan supports. After cleaning my oven I went shopping. As I got into my car I noticed all the scratches in the paintwork. I couldn’t help wondering why they don’t coat cars in the same stuff they use on pan supports.

 It’s funny how something can be transformed by what it’s covered in. Something prone to scratching can be made tough by what it’s coated in. A cheap metal can be made beautiful my what it’s plated with. No-one covers an expensive metal with a cheap one, nor do they finish a hardy material with something less suitable for its job. But something inferior or unsuitable can be changed into all that it needs to be by coating it in the right material. The Bible talks a lot about being clothed and covered by Christ. That our imperfections are hidden in His sufficiency for all circumstances. So the next time I feel incapable and unbeautiful, unable, insufficient and fragile, I’ll remember what I’m coated in!

Episode 155 - Let Your Light Shine

 Christmas is coming! Over the last few weeks I have noticed more and more houses putting decorations up outside of their houses, but on Tuesday night as I walked home from work there was a huge increase in the number of decorations that lined the streets; in gardens and on walls, bright lights flickering, flashing, and dancing with joy. It felt like something special was coming, like someone special was coming to these streets and everyone wanted them to feel special. I felt special as I walked home that night bathed in the excitement of the first glimpses of Christmas. I imagined that the earth was preparing for their King to come. Of course when Jesus came to earth as baby there was much less in way of welcome, at least in the earthly realm. 

I went to work early the next day and as I walked through the dark streets a very different atmosphere welcomed me. There were no lights on, in the gardens and on the houses. They had all been turned of for the night. The joy and excitement and anticipation that had been there the night before was gone. Today was just another day. As I thought about it, I couldn’t help wondering, do I only let my light shine to welcome Jesus when there are others about see, or do I leave my light on even when no-one’s there.

Episode 154 - Faith Like This

Apparently, the Bible records 37 miracles that Jesus performed. I say apparently because I haven’t actually counted for myself because I’m lazy (read efficient?) but it sounds about right so I’m happy to accept it. About two-thirds of these miracles were healings (I know, really going for pinpoint accurate statistics today). There are two which have struck me recently. The first is the healing of a centurion’s servant. The centurion asks Jesus to heal his servant but says that there’s no need for Jesus to travel to the servant because He can just say the word and the servant would be healed. Jesus extols the centurion’s faith, and the servant is healed by the time the centurion gets home. The second is the healing of a woman who had been suffering with bleeding for twelve years and had spent everything she had on doctors and medicine to no avail. She pushed through the crowd just hoping to touch the edge of Jesus’ robe because she believed if she did, she would be healed. She reached out and touched His robe and was healed. And Jesus declared that it was because of her faith that she had been healed.

When I first thought about these two stories, I hoped that my faith was more like the centurions than the woman who reached out to Jesus’ robe. The centurion is a striking character, one who exudes confidence. On the other hand, the woman who reached out to Jesus’ robe comes across as someone who has lost control and is desperate. I am ashamed to say that my immediate response was to be quite judgemental of the two characters and to jump to conclusions. I even wondered that if the woman who had suffered with bleeding had the faith of the centurion, she would have been healed a long time before. I’m fairly sure it doesn’t work like that though and I realised that I had been looking at it all wrong. The stories were not about these characters but about Jesus. And one person’s faith was not better than another’s, because it wasn’t about the faith they had, but about who they had faith in. And the amazing thing is that whatever our faith is, even if we are too weak to utter any words at all, Jesus is the same powerful loving healer to us all.