Thought For The Week 27 February 2022

Tensions, temptations and taunts 

The temptation of Jesus speaks to me of our human condition stretched to the limit! That in turn speaks to us at this time, as we enter a third   Lenten season under the shadow of Covid, with angry protestors camped outside Parliament, hospitality and tourism businesses going to the wall, and heightened anxiety in response to the fast-approaching Omicron wave. We are being stretched.

So how did Jesus deal with the tension, temptations and taunts? Huge resilience   indeed. And the text gives two sources for this resilience, still available to us today. One was the filling of the Holy Spirit. The other, a deep and informed use of scripture that empowered him to combat the misinformed misuse that was thrown at him

As we navigate the tension, temptations, and taunts in our context this Lent, may we too draw on these deep spiritual resources to sustain us.

In a season popular for what we can give up, I have always thought the emphasis should be more on what we can take up! Now, as much as ever, we need to be taking up spiritual practices which allow us to be more and more open to the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit and to the scriptures that carried Jesus through a time such as this.

Right Rev Hamish Galloway
Moderator Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand
moderator@presbyterian.org.nz

This is the abridged version of the Moderator’s Lent Message, the link to the full version is:

https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/index.php/moderators-lent-message-2022