United

Having been away so much last year, I’m still trying to clear up the autumn leaves, stacked in the flower beds, as well as twigs and branches and pine cones thrown down by wild winter winds. The twigs come from the larch, the Norwegian elm, the damson, the cherry trees … a rich mixture.

The night before he died, Jesus asked his Father to keep his disciples safe. He had protected them while he was in the world, but as he prepared to leave the world, he wanted the Father’s protection to continue to cover them. Not just for their own sakes, but for the sake of the church, ‘so that they may be one as we are one.’ (John 17:11)

As the winter winds of pandemic rage round the world, I’m praying that all of our roots of faith in Jesus – whatever our tradition, be it larch, elm, damson or cherry – go deep. Deep so that they join in Jesus and we are one, as Jesus and the Father are one. Praying that unity in the church would be a beacon of light in this dark world, that as we work together as we have never worked before (largely digitally!) the world will see Jesus in us.

I know for myself, I don’t want to let go of Jesus like an autumn leaf, nor be swept away from Jesus as the winter’s broken twigs and branches.

Jesus self-isolated on the Cross. He suffered a loneliness we can’t even imagine. But it led to resurrection, new life. As we self-isolate, may we not lose heart but see the joy set before us, the new life as church emerges, perhaps looking different, but united as never before.

May we bring glory to Jesus. Amen.