Sisters and Brothers,

Rev. Delsol Meade

We have entered the penitential season of Lent- Time to reflect on the opportunity to claim God’s grace for repentance. Yes, repentance is possible only through God’s grace. That we can recognise our fallenness as humans individually and collectively, that we sense our need of God’s help to do better as persons, as congregations- all this awareness comes as God’s Spirit helps us to discern our needy-ness. So then, let us not take this for granted, but rather act upon it. Indeed, today, if you hear God’s voice, do not harden your heart but let the Lord finish the work that he has started in you. Cooperate with the Holy Spirit, using all the means of grace that will help you on this journey.

Hopefully, you started with a Daniel Fast, and if you did not, it is never too late to start. You may not, for health reasons, be able to embark on a complete fast from solid food, but you can try this or whatever your situation allows. And remember, it is not fasting without a purpose. We are encouraged to let ourselves be led by God as we reflect on those things we do habitually and assess them. Then our fast moves from examining eating habits and food to getting rid of other practices and habits that hinder us from fully experiencing life in the Lord.

Maybe you have not responded to the call to be an Andrew because you see this as something for the more outgoing type of person. But God our Creator has other persons like you, and persons who are more effectively reached by persons like you. Don’t count your self out. God does not. His grace encompasses people of all descriptions including you and me. I encourage you, as we continue marking thirty years of witness in this land, to let your witness count. We speak of loving service. This Lent, how will you serve lovingly according to the pattern of Jesus who invites us saying, ‘as I have loved you so you too should love the other’ ? Your service will necessarily be different to someone else’s. What would be regrettable is that you gave no service because you thought that you should be just like someone else whom you regard to be the better Christian.

Repentance then, is not only about cutting out bad habits. It is also about developing new and better ones to replace them, just as we improve our eating habits. As we embrace practices that reflect Christ likeness towards others and lovingly serve them, we move on towards making it a reality that we have indeed expressed

          #Methodism NL@30: Loving Service through Faith in Christ

This Lent, for our Lord’s sake, let us do good.

Yours in God’s service,
Joan Delsol Meade