I tend to wait until the last minute.
That is not because of laziness, rather it is because the situation in our world at the moment seems to change rapidly, so I leave things until the last minute!
There is another confession: I fear for the state of the world now, and it could be asked, “why is that something to confess, given that many feel the same way?”.
Jesus says most frequently in the gospels, “do not fear”.
Jesus regularly challenges power, and he regularly challenges human authority, indeed going to the cross without a fight, without defending himself with a sword as Peter wanted to do in the scriptures as a direct challenge to corrupt human authority.
And why? Jesus was, and is, the Son of God, or rather, and probably more correctly, God the Son.
Jesus did not fear the corruption of human power since he had, and continues to have, uncorrupted authority. He remains without sin and without corruption.
If you have an uncertainty about the state of the world now, if you look at the potential for trouble and think, “what can I do?”, can I suggest: turn to Christ!
Turning to Christ sets aside another fear that we have in world today, that wholly committing to God is somehow a sight of weakness, somehow believing in “fairies at the bottom of the garden”.
However, in Christ we find true authority, we find authority over sin itself which removes the corruption of our world and brings us close to God.
In Christ we find the elements of peace.
We can even think back to Christmas and see those elements, or look forward to Easter and see them as well.
In Christ we find strength to face fear and instead see hope.
If a world were to turn to Christ, fear would be destroyed and peace would be created.
It is probably unrealistic to expect the whole world to turn to Christ, but at least in our part of the world we can.
Can I urge then, in times of doubt and fear, to turn to Christ and find hope and strength?
~ Contributed by Fr Tim Fogo from St Paul’s Anglican Church, on behalf of the Combined Churches of Deniliquin.
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