Joy cometh in the morning

Yesterday, Good Friday, I was attending a special service at the church in Malvern which I have been attending. Someone quoted from Psalm 30 verse 5: "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning". I thought how fitting this was. The apparent temporary setback of Good Friday's crucifixion is followed by the joy of Easter's resurrection.

The Christian has some reasons to weep. The state of the world is an obvious one. But he or she has many more reasons to be glad. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy" (Psalm 126:5).

Of course, we can't expect to feel in our spirits all the time the joy that Christ gives. We do a disservice to fellow Christians if we tell them they must always look happy. Sure, it is perhaps easier for me to be happy now than when I was stuck not knowing what the future would hold. It is exciting now to be planning my move up north and the start of a new pastorate. But that doesn't make me immune to downbeat moments if things go wrong at times.

When I was at school we used to sing a children's hymn by Lizette Reese, "Glad that I live am I". It put in simple words what life is like from a child's point of view. One verse went,

After the sun the rain,
after the rain the sun,
this is the way of life,
till the work be done.

That, I would suggest, is half the story. Life on earth is indeed a series of ups and downs. Without Christ it is just rain followed by sun followed by rain followed by sun and, in the end, no more sun. But if you receive new, resurrection life with Christ, this earth's ups and downs turn out to be just the curtain-raiser to a glorious life of joy and peace.

"Someone's hired me at last!"

During the Middle Ages, a German troubadour finally found a wealthy patron to give him a steady income after waiting in vain for possible sponsors. He wrote a poem in celebration. The first line, roughly translated, went:

"Someone's hired me at last, O all the world, someone's hired me at last!"

It wasn't a very poetic thing for a poet to write. It isn't a very spiritual thing for a pastor to say. Yet it expresses the sense of joy and relief that the waiting is over. A week ago today, Bethany Evangelical Church in Leigh, Greater Manchester, found reasons to take me on as pastor where others had found reasons to brush me aside. Many would expect my response to be a solemn religious phrase like "I accept the call". Yet all I can say is how thrilled I am at seeing God's sheer grace at work!

Soon, God willing, I will have a new status. I shall need to alter my details on this blog. No longer shall I be "freelance", but a serving pastor in an actual church setting. My address, my employment position and much else besides will be different.

It remains to be seen whether the experiences of recent months and years will cause me to approach the work differently from the way I did it in the past. Every true pastor, indeed every genuine Christian, hopes to learn and grow. We are the sum total of our past experiences but are also affected by the brand new things that God is doing in and through us. The voice from God's throne declares, "Behold, I am making all things new" (Revelation 21:5 ESV). May new things rejoice the heart of the church where I am appointed, too.