9 March 2008

Welcome to St Alban’s Anglican Church 

]Today's Scripture (HC) : Ezekiel 37: 1-14     Romans 8: 6-11     S. John 11: 1-45

Today's Liturgy: 8.35 a.m. BCP Matins;   9.00a.m. Scripture Study;   9.30 a.m. Holy Communion;   Evening Pr. 6.00 p.m.

Today is the beginning of Passiontide. This Week: Tues - Fri: Midday Prayers 12.30 p.m.

5^th Sunday in Lent

We beseech thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people; that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

FAITH IN FOCUS: TWO DEGREES BELOW

Tommy Leach was always a good footballer at school and he rose through the ranks to play for a team in the lower divisions, also working part time as a plumber. On several occasions scouts came to see him play but he was never approached by any of the big teams and he remained with "The Losers" as he resentfully called them. Despite his obvious skills he was unhappy with his lot.

Sarah, Tommy’s wife, ran a local nail-bar. She was good at it and it earned more than enough to see to the family bills besides giving her something to do as well as the opportunity to meet and talk to her customers, including many of her friends. She’d always wanted to have her own hairdressing salon but the one she briefly opened turned out not to be a going concern as there was another well-established shop not far away and there just wasn’t enough business to go round. So she put up with the nail-bar.

Jason Leach, their son, had joined the army and done several tours abroad as part of a United Nations peace-keeping force. At first he liked the job but he began to miss his friends back home. He was popular among the other members of his unit and played in an army group that entertained the other troops. He’d recently bought himself out of the army and was now back home. Eventually, he told himself, he’d get round to looking for a job.

Tommy, Sarah and Jason are not bad people. Each of them is talented and capable of living a full life, beneficial to others and satisfying to themselves. Like Lazarus, however, they too wear shrouds and grave-clothes even though they’re not dead. They go through the motions of life, but a life that’s just below the surface. They exist but do they really live? Is there something missing? And there are lots of "survivors" just like them: people who live life two degrees below; people who have so much going for them but fail to see what’s in front of their eyes; people who have to be shaken hard before they appreciate what their life can be all about.

The raising of Lazarus reminds us not only that we’re going to live forever, but also that the quality of our life here and now can be deepened by our faith in Jesus. First of all, however, we have to make sure we haven’t dressed in a shroud!

WORD OF GOD

Lazarus came out, his feet and hands bound with bands of stuff and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him; let him go free." (John 11:44)

WORD FOR TODAY

We don’t need to wait until we die to wear a shroud. Lots of us wear them every day voluntarily. We let things drag us down; we put up with second best; we behave in ways that curtail our God-willed blessedness. The raising of Lazarus reminds us that in Christ we too can take off our shrouds and really live!

LIFE is a great surprise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one. (Vladimir Nabokov)

NO MATTER HOW HAPPY we are with our family and friends, with what we do at work or in our leisure time, most of us still feel a deep down yearning for something else. We are content up to a point but there is always something out there calling us to a better quality of life. This richer form of life is life with God, and what we yearn for, if only we knew it, is union with God. (Charlotte Haslam)

THIS WEEK’S BIBLE READINGS:

Mon: Exodus 8:1-19, Hebrews 11:17-31, John 11: 28-44

Tues: Exodus 8:20-end, Heb 11:32 - 12:2, John 11:45-end

Wed: Exodus 9:1-12, Heb 12:3-13, John 12:1-11

Thur: Exodus 9:13-end, Heb 12:14-end, John 12: 12-19

Fri: Exod 10, Heb 13:1-16, John 12: 20-36a

Sat: Exod 11, Hebrews 13:17-end, John 12: 36b-end

NEXT SUNDAY (PALM SUNDAY - 9 a.m.): S. Matthew 21: 1-11, Isaiah 50:4-9a, Philippians 2:5-11, S. Matthew 26:14 - 27.end