8th May 2018

Last week I was trying to find a glass shade to replace a broken light fitting, and so visited a lighting shop that seemed to stock millions of lighting accessories. The lady at the counter recognised the unique fitting that I was looking for and understood my request, but apologised that the store room was currently in a state of darkness, and that they were waiting for an electrician to fix the problem. Ironic. I left the shop empty-handed, but not without an illustration.

The encounter reminded me of something that one of the prophets said. I think it was Zechariah, who likened the church to a lampstand, and made it clear to his generation that the church cannot fulfil its light-bearing role without being fuelled from some external source, and that the needed source was God’s Holy Spirit: ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.’

How important for me to remember that the church of Christ is disabled without the supply of the Spirit. And how sobre to think that mere politeness will not suffice, and that those who visit our churches will not find the blessing they so much need without that supply from above. May God give to our church, and to all his churches, not merely the power of politeness, but the gracious supply of his Holy Spirit, so that we might fulfil our calling to be the light of the world.

DM 8^th May 2018