23rd September 2020

It happened last week – we lost connection with the Internet. Alexa blushed red and said she could not connect, the computer said the same thing, and our ever-watchful IT son said the security cameras had failed. Panic, crisis – what were we to do. Without internet how could I get my Thought for the Day to the Tyndale website? Loss of connection presented a crisis underlining how almost every aspect of modern life is technology dependent. However after turning the computer off and unplugging the Modem and then restarting everything, the green light shone and we were connected once more.

Could this be a modern parable of gospel truth? All around us are signs that we live in a non-functional, disconnected world, far distant from God’s good creation – climate crisis, especially in Siberia, ethnic conflict, spreading virus, family life at risk, political confusion and more – all disconnected. At the same time we suffer from a profound sense of a loss of that vital God-dependency. Computers seem more important than faith.

But the essence of the New Testament message is that, because of Christ’s costly sacrifice, connections have been re-established – both with God and one another, as St Paul claims in Ephesians 2, 12-18. Barriers have come down: God’s Shalom is once more available to all – we have ready access to God in prayer and worship, and to one another in sympathy, understanding and service, thereby fulfilling Jesus’ summary of the demands of the law – love of God and love of neighbour, and I guess that that is what ‘Open to God Open for all’ is all about.

John Briggs