9th April 2025

Last Sunday morning in the deacons’ prayer meeting – those few minutes before the service when the deacons pray for all who have gathered for worship – Sam was joking about how he has upset some of the ‘rules’ we cherish. For as long as anyone remembers, communion at Tyndale has been served by four deacons who sit in front of the congregation (feeling very self-conscious). But now there are usually only two deacons serving and, since we began holding communion in the round, we don’t even get to sit down!

This came to mind as I was reflecting on the New Testament lectionary reading for this week. In his letter to the Philippians (3.4-14), Paul recalls how he was brought up in a good religious home, followed all the rules, became a respected teacher of Judaism and zealously opposed an upstart preacher called Jesus who dared to challenge the status quo. I understand the old Paul (or rather, Saul) – rules give structure to life; familiarity is unthreatening; there is something ‘right’ about doing things as we have always done them.

But wait… Paul goes on to say that now he considers all those things to be rubbish (I’m told the original Greek puts it rather more crudely). Compared with knowing Christ Jesus, everything else fades into insignificance. To know Christ, to be found in him, to share in his resurrection – the words are flowing freely out of Paul’s pen as he tries to find a way of expressing just how much Jesus means to him.

Forget the safety of old rules, I want some of that joy.

Ian Waddington