Posted by George Morrison

WOTW                             Word on the Week                     7th May 2022.

This one could be called the Blog that talks to itself!   Although I have been going longer than I care to remember the reason for my existence may not be self-evident.   Indeed, it may not be evident at all!

Word on the Week came into being with the intention of applying people’s knowledge of the Word to one of the major events of the week.  The idea was to inculcate, through time, an appreciation that the Word of God could be applied to every decision or situation in life.

Thus with people habitually thinking ‘Christianly’ conversations in the staff canteen or wherever your Areopagus is (Acts chapter 17 verse 19), could be turned from the usual Government bashing to something more Christ-centred.

How to turn a conversation that is going nowhere into something more profitable requires a bit of thought.   It can be as simple as prefacing your words with “I take my cue from Jesus on this subject” when the latest case of gender dysphoria comes up for discussion.   Jesus brings the argument back to the beginning when there was no identity crisis (St Mark Chapter 10 verses 6 to 9).  People then see the ideal comes from scripture and the conversation is enlightened by the grace and forgiveness the gospel can bring.

One of the Apostle Paul’s ‘Words on the Week’ occurred when he visited Corinth.  He saw the confused state of their worship revealed in the many statues to their gods. One statue was dedicated to an unknown god.  St Paul used this to proclaim Jesus, the God you can know. His power and authority is seen in his resurrection from the dead (Acts chapter 17 verses 24 to 34).

No form of government is perfect because they are made up of sinful people.  This week we were able to witness the democratic principle of free election in the North of Ireland and at the other end of the scale the authoritarian regime in Russia silencing its people from critiquing its leader’s war efforts against Ukraine.

There will be Christians in both camps – some preferring the one over the other.   Jesus understood the anxieties these things create and calms our fears using the Gospel passage which points us to another Kingdom, a heavenly one, that one day will be ours (St Luke Chapter 12 verse 32).

‘Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’