Context 
The narrative of Christ’s temptations shows him turning painfully towards harsh, inflexible reality and away from comfort, dreams of heady power, and prospects of spectacular rescue. With a crisis in knife-crime, the savage spending cuts of austerity threatening ever greater disparities in a nation where prosperity is already unevenly spread, accusations of anti-Semitism poisoning the Labour party opposition and of Islamophobia troubling the governing party, should the electorate turn their attention away from the incessant to and fro of Brexit negotiations?
Reflection
Christ rejects personal short-term relief, bread, in favour of enduring general truth. But unless we belong to families bereaved by knife-crime, or ourselves suffer anti-Semitic abuse or live where the economy teeters and Brexit threatens further misery, we lack the right to demand the sacrifice of necessarily putting wider-ranging considerations above those that touch most closely. Should we still favour patience in pursuit of a better, fairer settlement with Europe? Or should we put the domestic crises – young lives lost, vile racist slanders, crying social injustice - first, lobbying our MP’s to put Brexit away quickly and tackle crime, prejudice and poverty?
Is regret among Remainers for cultural links lost just a selfish consideration to reject, like Christ’s longing for bread in the wilderness? Some see this as the ‘elite’, who prospered while the EU sapped the life-blood from the regions and the marginalised, resisting change. The loss, however, will affect all. Should we give the politicians a pause and all a second chance to reject exit to preserve many diverse opportunities, and, especially, hard-won Irish peace?
Christ rejects the lure of power gained illegitimately and wielded selfishly. Are the EU Commission, or the Brexiteers, just such conscienceless power-grabbers? We have witnessed a damaging political deadlock that warns against simply rejecting all human power-structures as ‘of the devil’. Legitimate power well-wielded is essential to the well-being of nations. What would really good government, the human and political equivalent of Christ’s ultimate self-sacrificial embrace of selfless power, look like?
Austerity or seeking separation from Europe may have made us more prone to anti-Semitism, Islamophobia; and anti-immigrant sentiment, although the picture is complex. One of the drivers of knife-crime and hate-crime is allegedly the isolation and alienation of whole communities and their values. Well-being, including physical and emotional well-being, is not an evil. The deprivations of the marginalised are quite unlike the chosen privations of Christ in the wilderness and not to be embraced.
What might be the political equivalent of trusting God, not to perform a spectacular save of the fool-hardy, but to be gracious to us in the hour of need (Deuteronomy 26.7-9)? Knowing that each one of us knows only one corner of the nation, one faith community, one point on the economic spectrum, would it be better to leave the whole sorry matter in God’s hands, seeing our own part as prayer alone? Or is that abrogating personal responsibility, and so choosing the very opposite of what Christ modelled?
Prayer
A prayer of petition seeking help for ourselves and others fearful of the future
Let us pray in hope for that land flowing with milk and honey!
For a land where not only no one goes hungry,
but all can enjoy a little pleasure, a little luxury – the ‘honey’ of life.
Let us pray in trust for a land where all may rejoice together in prosperity,
the immigrant communities and those who follow other religions,
like Israel’s ‘aliens’ accepted and included in the God-blessed land.
Let us pray in self-awareness.
We know that in our land oppressed and oppressor often live cheek by jowl,
and exchange roles as circumstances change.
As we are thankful for the many things we continue to enjoy,
make us generous to those less fortunate,
and free from bitterness when we do not prosper as we would wish.
Let us pray with courage
that with God’s help we can overcome the evils which beset our communities,
the violence, the hateful speech, the alienation and misery of poverty.
Make us all ready to do as ancient Israel did and,
instead of dwelling on past wrongs,
turn to God with thankful hearts for all that we continue to enjoy,
and the resolve to show our gratitude in positive action.
And so, let us go forward with joy into the new week, whatever it brings.
Amen.
Questions
- Does any one of the issues raised here (knife-crime, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, severe social disadvantage) directly affect your community? Can your local community do anything to alleviate the problem?
- If not directly affected, consider what responsibility we may all have in regard to such problems. Does e.g. joining a political party, lobbying or writing to MPs help?
All-age activity
Many of us have been particularly touched by the youth of figures in the news: young teenagers stabbed to death; a bereaved young mother dubbed a terrorist suspect and deprived of her citizenship; a young, pregnant woman MP subjected to anti-Semitic bullying. We identify them with our younger selves, or with our younger family members. Invite everyone to think of a particular figure from the news and relate them to a particular figure in their own lives. Give everyone a sticky note. Ask them to write or draw on the note something which for them symbolises these two people, e.g. ‘Scouts’ if you remember that one of the young stabbing victims was a Scout, and relate to that, or ‘motherhood’ if that is your link to the person you have chosen. Pray for the needs of both, and all like them. You could invite everyone to come forward and stick their notes to a board, or you might prefer to leave this as a private meditation on shared concerns.
Young people
What do you think is the correct response to the fear of knife-crime? If people are fearful should they stop at home, come home earlier, or not change their habits? What practical steps can communities take to protect vulnerable young people without giving in to the ill-willed and spoiling their growing independence? Have a mind-mapping session!
Brenda Vance is a URC elder and retired university teacher living in Sussex
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