In life our temperaments do play a significant part in shaping how we view the world. Some of us are natural optimists who look for the best in others and see opportunities opening up in front of them. By contrast, some other people\u00a0are at the opposite end of the scale and are naturally pessimists and from their perspective there are an alarming number of problems and difficulties lying ahead of us and they struggle to see a way through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In popular speech in Scotland there is a simple form of words we use to describe these two broad categories of people with reference to a partly-filled glass of water. There are those who see a glass \u2018half-full\u2019 and others who see it \u2018half-empty\u2019. There is no dispute about the quantity of water in the glass only the significance of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the current time it is mostly likely that the Covid-19 virus crisis may be the biggest challenge to humanity worldwide since World War Two. Therefore, if this statement is correct, the choices we make now as the Christian Church in its local as well as global expression may have a huge bearing on the effectiveness of our collective witness over the coming decades and possibly even longer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We cannot deny that we may face some even bigger challenges ahead than we are even anticipating at the present time. Yet at the same time there may be some unprecedented opportunities to\u00a0show the importance and relevance of our faith to a world of people whose ideological foundations have been shaken by all that has taken place.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bible passage for today is very brief, covering an unscripted and completely unplanned ministry opportunity for Jesus and His disciples in Luke 18:15-17. What do we see?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(1)An unsought opportunity<\/strong>\u00a0(Luke 18:15a)\u00a0People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have Him touch them.<\/em>\u00a0I have no idea what Jesus had planned that day for Him and the group of disciples that were accompanying Him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What we see here clearly is that choices had to be made. \u00a0How would Jesus respond to the situation before Him? In that cultural context it was not uncommon for rabbis, the Jewish religious leaders, to be asked to perform a blessing on a child around its first birthday. Jesus\u2019 could have said \u2018no\u2019 He was too busy to stop and spend time with them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Churches around the world in locations with good access to the internet have had new opportunities to bear witness to Jesus Christ. How many had prior to this crisis hosted meetings or services on a zoom platform? How many had livestreamed services or activities or even thought seriously about doing it\u00a0prior to March 2020? How many Christians had considered sharing gospel messages to groups on whatsapp or other people via email or shared something of their faith by more traditional methods of actual conversations in person, by phone or some other means of communication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I am delighted to hear good examples\u00a0of some of you taking\u00a0opportunities to share your faith in recent weeks. Personally, I have had many more opportunities to speak to\u00a0others about aspects of the Christian faith in the last month than I could ever have anticipated. I want to encourage you to join me in praying to the Lord for spiritual sight to \u2018see\u2019 the opportunities that God is providing for us. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n (2)\u00a0An unwanted opportunity<\/strong>\u00a0(Luke 18:15b\u00a0When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them…<\/em>\u00a0These sincere people had a schedule for the day that had to be followed and so the presence of these parents and young children was a problem to be got rid of not an opportunity for engagement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Is this our natural response when difficulties come? Or might there be a better way to react? For example, by praying: \u2018Lord, I don\u2019t like the situation before me\u2019;\u00a0Can you please open my eyes to view it from\u00a0your perspective of looking for new opportunities for witness or service?\u2019\u00a0It is not the details of what happened here that matters as we\u00a0live in a very different cultural context, instead our focus in this Covid-19\u00a0crisis is to ask God how we might live effectively for Him in our communities at this time of enormous changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (3)\u00a0A God-given opportunity<\/strong>\u00a0(Luke 18:16-17)\u00a016<\/sup>But Jesus called the children to Him and said, Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.\u00a017\u00a0<\/sup>I tell you the truth; anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.<\/em>\u00a0Jesus\u2019 choice is an active one. He\u00a0called the children to Him\u2026<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 to model God\u2019s kingdom values to the adults present.\u00a0Children typically\u00a0have a sense of wonder about the world and an expectancy of God at work within it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Do we need to recover even in a time like this a sense of the opportunities God is presenting to us? For prayer, witness and compassion ministries; <\/p>\n\n\n\n Children have a depth of trust in God and in the adults in their lives. In our difficulties will we demonstrate our confidence in God by the choices we make for our future?\u00a0Children are also willing to play \u2018Follow my leader\u2019 games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How willing are we to follow Jesus in simple trust that He will lead us in the right way in these difficult times? Children are also marked by their amazing ability to forgive when apologies are offered and to offer them when they are at fault. How much we adults\u00a0have to learn from them! Thank God Jesus took this God-given opportunity to live out His faith amongst people who might not otherwise have seen Him or heard Him preach. Or calling is to follow in His footsteps. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our song to help us in our reflections today is \u2018When we walk with the Lord\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n