Dear Friends
I am always intrigued by what sermons generate a surprisingly large and interactive response. Last week’s sermon on the Two Tones of Truth was one of them. From the amount of conversations, emails and sms’s I have received it seems to have touched a nerve of many. The overwhelming response has been: “That sermon was about me!” So it seems many of us participate in the dance between faith and doubt. The cry: “I believe, help my unbelief” is the cry of many of us. This is what led me to voice that strange sentence that I invited you to wrestle with: “I am still searching for what I have found”. I have no more light to shed on this but I can’t get away from its ring of truth for me. I would be interested to find out your reflections on this!
The psalmist may have spoken in the tones of bold declaration and doubting distress, but amazingly s/he longed for just one thing: the Lord’s presence and beauty.
To witness a life lived willing only one thing is hugely compelling. The psalmist’s desire drew me to a deeper truth of my own. It went like this: “I yearn for one thing.” Then I thought, “No that is not fully true. I long to yearn for one thing”. Then I thought some more, “No that is also not fully true. I am not even sure I long to yearn for one thing, but I know I need to and I know I need help to.” So I turn to Jesus—the one who has found me– and I search again for him.
I really want to encourage us all to read and reflect on the Psalms—the psalms that are better prayed than preached—the psalms that help us recognize our true selves. May you be blessed with both peace and disturbance. Alan.
Sunday, 07 March 2010
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