Mothers’ Union Devotion Sunday 11th April 2021

The Upper Room

Joy intruded,

disregarded locks and bolts, trespassed on the solemn circle.

 

Joy interrupted,

waving fear aside to bring fresh challenge of fire and flame.

 

Joy burst in with no apology.

It did not shuffle, stand aside with downcast eyes,

or wait for a convenient break in conversation.

 

Joy gatecrashed,

too eager for the celebration to stand on ceremony.

 

There never was, there never will be,

a more disruptive intruder than the bringer of Good News.

Lisa Debney ©Wild Goose Publications

Over the past year we have learnt a lot about interruptions in our daily lives. The enormous interruption of lockdown, plans put on hold, visitors not being able to visit, being trapped inside and not able to go about our daily business. There have also been many much smaller interruptions: delivery drivers, phone calls, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Skype etc. which remind us that we are not forgotten and that there is still a world outside our door.  I do not think I appreciated quite how many sinister phone calls people were subjected to until I started working from home. The most dramatic one being an automated message that said unless I rang back and paid several hundred pounds in overdue Tax a warrant would be issued for my arrest that afternoon. I am still here!

The disciples experienced a dramatic interruption on the evening of the first Easter Day. Despite the bolted, locked doors, Jesus came and stood among the gathered disciples. This must have been quite a shock. No matter how much they may have wished to see him, never in their wildest dreams would they have expected him to appear so dramatically. Jesus calmed them with words and actions. He showed them that it was indeed him, the one they had last seen with the wounds, inflicted when he was nailed to the cross. The past could not be changed. The future however was yet to be written and here Jesus was giving them a new vision of the future.

A future where they could make a difference. A future where they should not hold onto past hurts. A future of forgiveness. A future of faith and trust in their Risen Lord. A future where they would be sent out into the world to share the Good News. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, where sins have been forgiven, where death is no more, where everything is redeemable.

For us too, as restrictions lift over the coming weeks, we are being sent out into the radically altered world to help rebuild the lives of those we encounter, through the sharing of the experiences and insights obtained during the time spent in our locked rooms.

With all my love and Prayers

Revd. Sandra