"Real Faith" by Raelene Hodge (Mark 5:22-36)

In this reading, we find Mark presents us with a story within a story – a Markean sandwich! What is so important about this passage? Why was this woman important enough to rate a mention in a way that could be seen as an afterthought – an interruption to a great story of healing. What significance could she possibly have had, in Mark’s time as well as our own?

Both these stories present us with examples of faith, though different. Mark commences what appears to be an account of a great miracle. We see Jesus, approached by Jairus a synagogue ruler seeking help for his daughter lying ill, so ill in fact that she was on the brink of death. Jesus, sensing the urgency, immediately agrees to go with him as requested. On the way, we are treated to another example of faith, and to me, a far more impacting one.

They were different in the following ways: Jairus, a synagogue ruler, a man of wealth and position who had servants and possibly a large house. He is named by Mark so we can assume he is obviously well known by both Mark and his readers. A man who publicly came to Jesus.

On the other hand we have the woman, not named, and due to her condition, approaches Jesus in secret for she is:
- outcast from society
- unclean
- suffering
- broke.

The news of Jesus’ miracles had spread rapidly, Jesus and his disciples were surrounded by people, pressed in by the crowd, jostled by those who would get nearer to the healer and in the midst of this crowd was a woman. Yet, in spite of this overwhelming crush of humanity, he feels someone touch him.

This woman has had a chronic illness for many years and has ‘suffered much’. She has tried everything that the doctors and healers have advised – to no avail, in fact, she was worse than she had been (who knows what sort of treatment she had endured over the years!). Now she had no more money and no-where to turn. Jesus was her last hope.

It appears that she had heard of this wonderful new healer - as in verse 28 we are told because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." (Possibly the stories of other healings such as the leper or the lame man we read about earlier in Mark), if Jesus had healed people maybe he could heal her too. And was it not so with other healers – you only had to walk in their shadow or touch their garment and you could be healed?

But dare she expose herself in this way? To speak out loud of her need? We are told that this woman ‘came up behind him’ - why not approach Jesus openly? She could not openly approach Jesus for a number of reasons: This woman was considered ceremonially unclean. This resulted in the belief of those around her that whoever she touched would also become ceremonially unclean. This meant that for 12 years of her life she had only been allowed limited participation in village life, shut off from her friends and family and denied the privilege of attending the temple for worship. It took great courage to go out amongst the town, knowing her state of uncleanliness and possible repercussions if anyone drew attention to her. She could not expose her need publicly (as Jairus had done).

Knowing this, she hoped to be able to approach without drawing attention to herself and just touch the garment for she believed it would be enough. She believed that Jesus power was so great that if she just came in contact with him in the least possible way she would be healed – what faith.

We see that faith rewarded as she reaches out her hand, touches, and receives healing - the bleeding stops and her suffering ceases. Her body tells her that this is so. But before she can escape undetected, just joyfully accepting the gift that was offered - Jesus stops. She had been discovered. What had seemed so simple and could be done so silently had become the centre of attention. Jesus stops – the crowd stops. He has felt her touch and the healing power leave his body. So he turns to his disciples and asks who touched him. The response to this question would appear to be obvious, we cannot condemn the incredulous response from his disciples as we would ask the same thing. How could Jesus even ask such a question considering the large crowd that pressed in on him. But Jesus knew that amongst all the others that had touched him in the jostling of the crowd only one person had touched him with intent, someone who was in desperate need and had reached out to Him. (A lesson for both the disciples and us – nothing, no matter how small or apparently insignificant, escapes his notice.) Once again the disciples are portrayed in an unflattering light. As with the time that Jesus calmed the storm in Mark 4:41, they were still unable to understand or see who Jesus really was. Even though they had been told by Jesus himself in Mark 4 vs 11, that they had been given “the secret of God’s Kingdom”, they were still blinded by their own prejudice or lack of vision. The disciples also show a lack of patience and understanding with what appears to be an unimportant event. So, someone had been healed, but amongst this crowd – who cares? Jesus’ response was perhaps more admonishing than anything he may have said to them, in asking who, and waiting for, a response from the one who had touched him, he gave an example of the need to look beyond the obvious. In their anxiety to hurry on to what they thought was a real need, Jairus’ ill daughter, they were unable to see the significance of the faith displayed by the woman and never seemed to fully grasp the real purpose behind these acts of healing – the faith being displayed and responded to, or to realise that healing comes at a cost, both to the healer and the one being healed.

Still no-one really knew who had reached out to him – but she knew, and Jesus was looking all around, seeking the one had needed him. Knowing that she had been healed she stepped forward. In fear and trembling we observe the hesitant steps of the women as she approaches Jesus. This woman who no-one would look upon let alone associate with, had now been called publicly before the healer – no wonder she was trembling with fear. What would he ask of her, would he do?

With Jesus’ compassionate eyes upon her she found herself pouring out her story in a faltering voice as she confesses everything – her pain, suffering and loneliness. We are told she tells him the truth, to do this, she does the one thing that she wanted to avoid, she exposes herself, but what a relief if must have been to finally tell someone of her need in spite of the humiliation.

Our timid and fearful woman is transformed and no longer cares what others may think, this is between her and Jesus, the one who has given her this wonderful gift and done this marvellous thing, healing to her body and relief from her suffering so, even though fearful of exposing herself publicly in this way she tells her story, giving testimony of her condition, her faith and the wonderful healing she had received.

Instead of the shame and condemnation she may have expected to receive, Jesus quietly speaks to her, calling her daughter and saying, ‘your faith has healed you’. Here we see further evidence of Jesus compassion in addressing her as daughter. Jesus offers her firstly the physical healing, followed by the emotional healing by using the term ‘daughter’ - a word that must have been wonderful for a person who had been deprived of the normal familial relationships brought about by her unclean state. Jesus then offers her the greatest gift, that of spiritual healing by making it clear to her that it was through her faith and NOT superstition that she has been healed. Jesus thus, welcomes her into his family, his Kingdom; showing her, and all those around them, that she is accepted by God and therefore should be acceptable to them.

This women, without any other hope, believed wholeheartedly in the power of Jesus and had acted upon this faith.

Although the two people in this story are decidedly different in their social standing, both are in need of Jesus, both are not ashamed to show that need in that they both publicly ‘fall at his feet’. In Jesus stopping to acknowledge this woman’s faith it served a number of purposes, firstly, it gave her back her dignity, secondly, publicly ‘cleansed her’ - for the Jews believed that as the touch of an unclean person made you ritually unclean so the touch of a holy person restored holiness thus allowing her to return to her family and community and thirdly, allowing her to return to public worship in the temple.

We then return to the earlier story of Jairus and his daughter.

35While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher any more?" 36Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."

Immediately following this healing, messengers bring the news that it is too late for Jesus to go with Jairus as his daughter has died. Jesus reassures Jairus that there is still a need for him to go that he should not fear but continue to believe. We can assume from Jesus’ response to the information brought by the messengers that Jesus sensed Jairus, in his despair and grief, may have agreed with the messengers - what need for Jesus now?

Jairus had showed a measure of faith in that he came to Jesus publicly and begged Jesus to come and heal his daughter – even to the point of publicly humbling himself by falling at Jesus feet. Jairus had also just been witness to a perfect example of faith in the women being healed in a miraculous way, surely this would encourage him but the evidence would say otherwise. Jesus appears to gently rebuke Jairus, acknowledging his fear yet encouraging him to continue to believe. It is obvious that Jairus does not see Jesus as anything more than a healer and even after his daughter is raised from the dead, the significance of who Jesus is still eludes him.

It is the same with the disciples’, both their insensitivity and inability to see beyond what was immediately apparent is obvious and it is, painfully clear from this passage that, despite having been given examples of Jesus’ power over nature as evidenced in the calming of the sea, and over demons – the healing of the demoniac we read about last week, the result of faith at work in the lives of people – even raising the dead, that while admiring, respecting and loving Jesus as a teacher and healer, they were still unable to grasp what it was that Jesus was responding to or who Jesus really was.

For Mark’s audience and for us, these two illustrations highlight the importance of faith in Jesus, not just as a prophet or healer, but as the Son of God. They symbolise the significance of faith. No matter how small of insignificant we think our faith may be, it is in the positive action of faith, the actual COMING to Jesus, believing that he is the Son of God that is important. It also illustrates the rewards of faith. In the case of the women, she was free of all that had isolated her from society and granted the special privilege of an intimate relationship with Jesus, to the extent she was called ‘daughter’.

What a difference a little contact with Jesus can make to people’s lives – our lives. Even though, as with Jairus, we feel that all is lost we must continue to not be afraid but just believe. As with the example of the unnamed woman we see that just a small touch can make an amazing difference – Jesus will meet us at out point of need if we but take the first step and reach out to Him – believing that we too can receive healing and transformation in our lives, opening the way (making it possible) to enter into a privileged personal relationship with Jesus.

"When All Appeared Lost ... the Boat Arrived" - Mark 5:1-20

Finally Jesus and his disciples made it to the other side (the eastern side) of the Lake of Galilee in their boat. You might remember that in the previous passage, the disciples had freaked because of the wind and the waves that were rocking the boat, fearing that they would die. This story indicated the difficulty of crossing over into unknown territory, to take on some of the adventures that God is calling his followers into. It was only the presence of Jesus in the boat that addressed the fears and calmed the waves, allowing the journey to continue. Jesus challenged the disciples, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith”? On the positive side, this challenge of Jesus didn’t lead the disciples to abandon ship into the now calm water. Rather, the awe that they expressed concerning Jesus, led them to stay on board and continue to the other side. These Jewish men, possibly still somewhat reluctantly, headed toward Gentile territory with Jesus.

When they arrived, their fears became understandable. Immediately danger presented itself! They were confronted by one of the most troubling and difficult situations imaginable. Here was a man who was overrun by evil (as we have it here – tormented by a multitude of evil spirits and living amongst the dead). Going ashore on the other side, these Jews were confronted with things that their worst inhibitions were made out of: the ritual uncleanness of a man living among the tombs, together with the presence of thousands of pigs, and then there was the very mention of the unclean spirits’ collective name “Legion” with its connection to Roman oppression (“legion” being a military term – designating in Roman terms a brigade of some 6,000 soldiers). These disciples went with Jesus on mission … and this was certainly going to be a cross-cultural and uncomfortable experience. But this is what mission is about according to the New Testament, even if you only cross one little lake or narrow road.

This man’s life was a living death. All appeared lost. What ever could be done! Who knows what his background was, what had led up to his pitiful state; but certainly his present was diabolical. This was someone who we might now understand as mentally and emotionally disturbed, his mind being in a terrible state of torment; he was living on the streets, completely isolated from mainstream society. He was physically powerful, yet in a state of hopelessness! The citizens had tried in vain to shackle and restrain this man, possibly thinking they were helping him (and themselves). This poor man continued to be in agony, evidenced by his constant howling and by engaging in self-harm. His humanity was being destroyed.

This is sometimes what we face when we travel to the other side. It might not be this bad most of the time, albeit still challenging. But maybe sometimes this level of despair doesn’t really touch us because we have preferred to stay in the boat rather than stepping out onto the shore on the other side. I wonder if anyone saw the pictures of Tim Costello in the Age on Monday morning having returned from Burma. His face of anguish and tears certainly portrayed someone who had been to the other side.

This was the disciples’ first journey with Jesus into Gentile territory, and it couldn’t have been much more challenging or difficult than this. But they were with Jesus, and being with Jesus, there was going to be a way forward in ministry, there would be a solution. As we travel through life with Jesus, we will be able to offer appropriate and helpful measures of assistance and hope to those around us. Jesus is reaching out to hurting people through us.

It was difficult to tell where the evil influences stopped and the heart of this oppressed man began. At verse 6 his ranting and raving stopped at the sight of Jesus – he wanted to bow in reverence before Jesus – he seemed to be looking for help, but his mouth spat out words that came from somewhere else! Sometimes it’s hard for us to see beyond all sorts of behaviours to appreciate the real person. However, following Jesus’ ministry to this man, we get a vivid picture of what he was and could be without the oppressive forces being upon him. Following the encounter with Jesus (v.15, 18, 20), he was in his right mind, adequately clothed, expressed a desire to follow Jesus, and successfully witnessed about what Jesus had done for him).

This man had previously been carrying pain like a hundred kilo sack. When the evil was released from the man and sent into the swine, it was so powerful that it drowned 2,000 pigs. Imagine being under this much pressure. People in our society find themselves under a great deal of pressure, and many of them break under it. How would it be to try to live under the sort of oppression that would drown 2,000 pigs? Yet Jesus can and will bring release, and chooses to work his power and influence to heal through us.

As we see in verses 6-12, the evil itself within this man did not want to be exorcised out of him – there was resistance – evil had made itself comfortable within this man. Yet such darkness still recognised the light of Jesus, correctly interpreted the presence of God, and understood that it was at a disadvantage (v.6-7). Interesting words here: “What have you to do with me Jesus?” or this question could be translated: “What do you want with me Jesus”, or: Why are you interfering with me Jesus?” or again: What do we have in common [you and I] Jesus?” … as if the two opposing poles of evil and righteousness could never interact, or as if Jesus would avoid or ignore evil and let it run its course [in people’s lives]. As if!!

We know that Jesus came into the world to destroy the power of evil over people’s lives and give them freedom. This was about to be displayed for all to see! The “Legion” of evil did come to see the threat, and begged not to be harmed by Jesus. It would fight for its existence. Yet, as we see here, the presence of Jesus was too much for it, and this infiltration of evil in the man’s life was dispensed with. He was free to be his own person again, and re-enter normal human relations. Do I hear any cheering?!? Here, evil was dealt with at close quarters. This narrative is all about the liberating power of Jesus offered to all humankind. Jesus can not only calm the fearful waves, but also deal with the demonic forces that defy all human control (as “Legion” defied all human attempts to shackle and restrain – v.4).

Some have wondered here about the poor pigs. But we must see beyond this to the deeper meaning. Jesus dealt with all the obstacles that faced mission to the other side as each presented itself, one being any jaundiced perception of gentile impurity. Gentile soil would be now ripe for mission (in Mark’s gospel). The deliverance of one poor man now becomes the potential for deliverance of a whole needy land. Mark’s mainly gentile Christian community in Rome would know that the gospel was just as much for them as for the Jews.

As a footnote to this incident, we can see that even though Jesus was so successful in his one-off ministry in this place, things didn’t get automatically easier. Instead of generally flocking to Jesus (and his disciples) the people of that place were afraid and actually begged Jesus to leave their neighbourhood (v.17). This ‘ministry to the other side’ business is a long-term prospect. People find it hard to accept something that is new and radical – they tend to distrust it and fear it. Actually the very thing that will be the most help is often doubted and mistrusted until it proves itself on a number of occasions and in a variety of ways. There will be joys and blessings along the way, but there will need to be a serious investment of time and effort to make a real impact. Jesus will later take his disciples back to the other side.

The formerly oppressed man wanted to join Jesus and travel around with the disciples, but Jesus left him behind to share his new found faith with all his own people. Who better to share with Gentiles of the “Decapolis” region, than a home-town boy who had experienced Jesus in the most dramatic of ways!

Esteeming Others

The attitude that we have to other people is central in the application of our faith. The success of our witness to Jesus will ultimately depend on the attitudes we reflect to others. We might be the type of person who naturally feels aggravation or frustration toward others – mainly because of their behaviour. It is true that we can experience a great sense of disappointment over what other people do. This propensity to be angry and highly critical of others can come from deep within us. Yet this is no excuse! Why have we no excuse for acting out our aggravation toward others??? Because we have the opportunity to be transformed by the Holy Spirit into new creations!

Listen to 2 Corinthians 5 > “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us” (v.17-8).

We might say to this … hang on, everything old has not passed away from me – there is still much of the old life (contrary to God’s ways) about me! And this would certainly be true for me. Yet we have here a great statement of God’s optimism about the possibilities of our transformation through God’s own power. Thus we can and should be on a continual journey of growth towards this sort of outcome. Anything short of this is just plain slack!! Anything short of this is complete wastage!!

This does not mean of course that we accept behaviours in others that are plainly destructive, hurtful and unjust. We don’t accept the repressive and violent regimes in Zimbabwe, Burma or Sudan. We don’t accept any abuse towards women or children. We don’t accept binge-drinking or drug-taking that leads to such violence, harm and community dislocation! We also don’t ignore our own children’s misdemeanours. But we stand up to this, not by allowing our aggravation to flow over into verbal tirades and negative behaviours of our own, but rather by living out the life of Jesus (within us) into each and every of these situations.

Listen to Acts 2 > “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (v.1-4).

A clear implication of the arrival of the Holy Spirit to human hearts and minds is the way they use their capacities of speech. We have accepted Jesus as our Saviour and Lord, and thus received the Holy Spirit into our lives, and we will never be the same again. The Holy Spirit is guiding us and empowering us to use our every word in an encouraging and helpful way. In this way we can take up the apostle Paul’s call to “esteem” others.

We know there are many around us with low self-esteem. We can accept Paul’s call here to speak encouraging words into their lives, so that they feel more accepted and valued. It might be that we ourselves suffer from low self-esteem; of course the way forward here, is not to try to bring others down to our level of discontent, but rather to concentrate on feeding others with encouragement, allowing these same words to speak to our own value in God.

Listen to 1 Thessalonians 5 > “But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labour among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.” (v.12-3).

Now of course this passage was directed at members of the church at Thessalonica, asking them to honour, respect and support those who were in leadership amongst them; doing so in a way that led to a peaceful experience of Godly community. Yet I think we can see how this easily applies to all our relationships in life; and how it would also apply to respecting those in the general community who work hard (and sometimes selflessly) for the good of ourselves and others.

We know that community leaders can get it wrong. We know that politicians can just be out for their own agendas. This is because, like us, they are fallible, and also vulnerable to all the pressures that come upon them. Teachers aren’t perfect. Doctors make mistakes. Pastors fall short of expectations. Social workers can make the wrong call. Parents through limited knowledge or busyness make a mistake or two. Yet if we can still “esteem” these people in the role they have, acknowledging at the same time where their ultimate support and wisdom can come from, then this surely helps and can make a significant difference.

We can build this community around us toward Godly appreciation of human value through thankfulness, and a general attitude of thanksgiving. You look around you and say, you’ve got to be joking! Well, I look to the scriptures and see an optimistic God who believes that everything in a human being’s life can be made new, and that optimistic God that continues to give humankind responsibility for the affairs of the earth (despite how we’ve tended to stuff it up).

Part of Jesus’ call to be peacemakers on earth, is to find practical ways of bringing harmony and building good community. It is through a positive attitude to the potential that abides in people (above and beyond their occasional lapses in behaviour) that will facilitate new growth, and ultimately lead them closer to experiencing God.

“Give thanks in all circumstances” is often quoted (1 Thess 5:18); not of course referring to giving thanks for the circumstances (although looking back sometimes we can see how certain circumstances that we have endured really led to great learning). This text most refers to finding a level of acceptance that allows for a thankful attitude in life to God and others despite difficult circumstances. Of course our circumstances will never be perfect, and many times will be far from ideal, yet it is God’s will that we find a way to embrace peace and live thankfully … and of course Jesus is the way!

"Creator & Created: Divine Majesty and Human Dignity" - A sermon reflection on Psalm 8

1. The Beginning and the End (v.1 & 9)

The psalmist’s worship began where it always should – in praise and thanksgiving for who God is. Yet you wonder if this beginning is at all tentative … wondering if God is really this great! But having reminded himself of all the good reasons that follow, the final clause (v.9) is then flooded with faith and excitement. It’s good to remind ourselves constantly what it is that we like about God – this will have great impact on the way we feel about life.

2. What is God like? (v.1)

God is not only God of the heavens, but also God of the earth. God is not only absolute, but also personal – because God is described as “our sovereign” (in verse 1) – God relates to us, and we can relate to God. God sees the big picture pertaining to all eternity, yet God also seeks to come close to each individual at their point of need.

God’s “name” (referred to in v.1 & 9) represents God’s essence, God’s personality, God reputation, all of who God is. Having claimed God as the kingly ruler of the people of God, the psalmist David describes God’s “name” as “majestic” or “excellent” (throughout all of the earth). What do you think most defines God’s character or personality???
· Unconditional love
· Mercy, grace, forgiveness, reconciliation
· Faithfulness
· Patience, long-suffering
· Peace.

3. In Witness to God (v.2)

What does ‘founding a bulwark’ (v.2) refer to? A “bulwark” is the side of a ship that comes up above the deck … that forms a defence and gives protection to those aboard from the danger of the seas. We might at times doubt God, but God has built into the universe continual evidences of His presence and availability. God’s character is so undeniable, that even when enemies appear, or when human hardheartedness reaches its peak, it will be the children that bear witness to God’s loving creativity. So God’s character will be defended by the natural joy and eagerness of children. God’s good “name” is being upheld by the inborn, natural and innocent responses of children.

Eugene Peterson in “The Message” paraphrases this way: “Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you; toddlers shout the songs that drown out enemy talk, and silence atheist babble”.

Such defence needs to be put up against those adults who have come to oppose God’s ways through knowingly offending God’s ethical and moral heart and thereby hurting other people; such opposition typified by those referred to as “avengers” i.e. those who actively seek to exact revenge – the absolute opposite of God’s character and attitudes.

This is the defence of innocence and truth and integrity.

Our own well-being can be protected and defended as well … through sticking to the strength of our primary relationship with God – that has been established on the principle of absolute trust.

4. Reasons to Praise (v.3-8)

Praising this absolute and personal God is based in the following areas:

(a) Creation – for those with the eyes willing to see, according to this psalmist, the creativity and activity of God is everywhere to be seen and experienced. David is overwhelmed by the immensity and the supreme artistry of what he sees in the skies. What a great mind God must be to place all the laws in place to govern all this complexity.

(b) God’s View of Humanity

Having come outside at night and taken note again of the moon and the stars – the handiwork of God’s very fingers, the psalmist’s mind turns to himself (and possibly all the humans he knows), and considers the place of the human person in the midst of all this magnificent creation. David considers the possible insignificance of human beings in comparison to the vastness of all creation and the brilliance of the Creator. These tiny specks of humans couldn’t really mean much to God could they?

On the absolute contrary! God’s ‘complete care package’ for human persons is not an illusion, or a human invented piece of optimism, or just words printed on the pages of the Bible – God’s care for us is real!

The stunning reality is that God is indeed “mindful” of us, meaning that God pays ‘careful and compassionate attention’ to us, and God visits with us. This was clearly and dramatically proven in Jesus’ incarnation. God significantly intervened in the midst of human affairs to open the possibility of a better future – for both individuals and for the world in general. The significance of that intervention carries on today.

God has not designed us to be his play things to be exploited purely for His pleasure; God has not designed us to be puppets to be manipulated at will. God has created us with dignity, and, as we shall see again, given us a distinctive and important role to perform in His creative plan. Human persons have been created in the image of God, with responsibilities to participate in God’s work, and with the capacity to actually be like God. For all our faults, and the times when the negative side of our nature comes to the fore, we have the capacity to reflect the character of God to others. This happens when we are kind, loving, patient or act as a peacemaker. We have minds with the capacity of thinking God’s thoughts, and hearts with the capacity to reflect God’s compassion. This is what it means to be “made a little lower than God” (v.5). This in no way is a negative assessment, but rather a wholly positive and optimistic statement. And so great scientific discoveries are made, and medical miracles occur, and once hardened people have their lives radically transformed.

(c) God’s Gift of Responsibility

God has the highest regard for human persons. God has even, despite all misgivings to the contrary, given us responsibility over everything else that has been created. The psalmist has in mind here the same human ‘dominion’ over God’s creation mentioned in the Genesis chapter 1. We have been given the mental and moral capacities to exercise a duty of care over the earth. How this responsibility has been abused for selfish economic gain! This is because we live in this tension, that while we have the capacity to do so much good, we often do harm. Yet, the responsibility has not been taken away from us – God remains optimistic about our capacities. And God is well aware of His own re-creative powers. Despite appearances to the contrary, God is still dynamically connected to the world He created.

We remain accountable to God for the way in which we carry out our responsibility. Old Testament scholar F R McCurley wrote:
“A [good] ruler does not devastate the land but nurtures it, seeks its
welfare, and enhances its beauty – even while eating from it and
using its resources”.

But I think this responsibility goes even further towards our duty of care to all our human neighbours around the world. This involves taking a role in defeating injustice and seeking a more equitable distribution of resources. This also involves putting a priority on being a part of the action in seeing lives transformed through Jesus.

5. Fully Experiencing God (v.9)

The psalmist David returns to the spirit of praise in which he began, but this time with renewed assurance and understanding of the truth of his words. The psalm concludes with the human person bringing the responsibility he or she carries back into the place and atmosphere of worship, with the acknowledgement of where life and light originates.

But it would be good if we could now feel this way and echo these words every day! How can we live in the utter knowledge of God’s excellence on our daily journey?

All sorts of questions come to mind! How can we experience God more on a daily basis? How can we have our need for spiritual connectedness fulfilled? How can we make more sense of life? How can we better reflect the character of God to others?

It is in allowing Jesus of Nazareth to challenge our thinking. It is in allowing the Jesus of the cross to tear away the barriers that block our progress. It is in allowing the risen Jesus to lead us into new and transformed experiences of life. It is in allowing God’s optimistic Spirit to take away our guilt and shame and rebuild our lives from the inside out. We still can be everything that God intended us to be!