Sunday’s Gospel reading is perhaps Jesus’ most famous parable, that of the Prodigal Son. The late Henri Nouwen, Dutch Roman Catholic priest, writer and theologian authored “The Return of the Prodigal Son”. It offers an extended reflection on the Rembrandt picture housed in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. The picture depicts the moment the prodigal son returns and is embraced by the father – while the elder brother watches from the shadows. Nouwen invites his readers to consider which character in the story we most identify with. He further suggests that at different stages in our lives, we can/may display the characteristics of all three.

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Friends,

Over thirty years ago, when I was first ordained, I knew a lovely lady who had a very hard life. Yet somehow she remained strong, a real matriarch, holding her troubled family together. Sometimes, when a new problem arose, she would sigh and say, “I don’t know what I’m paying for, but I hope it was worth it!” Of course it’s an age-old question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”.

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Friends,

From the Old Testament’s Second Book of Kings comes the tale of “passing the mantle” – the symbolic handing of the prophet’s task and talent, from Elijah to Elisha. While the former departs heavenward in a chariot of fire, the latter, who has earlier requested a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, collects the discarded cloak and uses it to cross the Jordan again on dry land. This week the there was another passing of the mantle (or apron). St Columba’s elder Ben Gourlay stepped down from his role after twelve years as Hospitality Convener and some five decades of providing hospitality at St Columba’s. A contribution beyond measure.

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Friends,

We are now at the time of year the church calls “Lent” when we remember how after his baptism and the affirmation of his identity as God’s Son, Jesus was led into the wilderness. There, for 40 days, he was tempted by the devil who questioned his very identity. Jesus confidently countered these questions by quoting Scripture, and after that the devil left him alone. The wilderness is traditionally the place of testing, formation, new beginnings and encounters with God. In the Old Testament, it is in the wilderness that the people of God learn, through trying and failing, through instruction and practice, through encounter and through experience over 40 years, to live in God’s way.

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“Silence – a meeting place where I am looking for God’s love, and God is looking for mine.”

Friends,

Next week begins the season of Lent. This potentially profound, “set-aside” time, begins with a reminder of our mortality. In many churches the Ash Wednesday custom is to mark the forehead with the sign of the Cross. Traditionally, the ashes are made from burning the palm crosses of the previous year, symbolically linking from the outset, the Lent journey with the Easter story. As the ashes are daubed the priest says: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return.” Ash Wednesday is designed to be an honest stripping away of illusions. It can be the overture to a season of serious reflection on ourselves, our lives, our priorities and our faith. At St Columba’s we mark Ash Wednesday, not with ashes, but with a service of communion in the London Scottish Chapel (1pm, Wednesday 5th March.) It is an intentional beginning to use the time ahead well and wisely. In the forty days of Lent that follow – echo of Jesus’ time in the wilderness – the intent is not to be gloomy. If we choose to give something up, it is in the hope that by doing so, we make room for something more precious.

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Friends,

The story of Joseph, part of which we read this week, has been familiar to many of us since our days in Sunday School. It comes early on in the Old Testament story of the people of God, in Genesis chapters 37-50. Joseph is an important figure in Judaism, Christianity and Islam but different versions of the story have become known to a wider audience thanks to the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat” and the animated film “The Prince of Egypt”.

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