28th May 2022

You gotta love onomatopoeias. Like ‘Thwack!’ What did you just hear? The sound of a golf ball being driven down the fairway, courtesy of some dynamic one wood? The sound of a dusty cushion being cleaned, courtesy of a large wooden stick being wielded by some strong-armed housecleaner? Thwack! Not crack. That’s more the sound of a rifle being discharged, or of an egg being broken on the side of a frypan, or of a stockwhip being….. well…. cracked.

There are many such thwacks in the Bible. Have you ever heard them? The sound of the lightning bolt striking the offering that Elijah presented on Mount Carmel in that scene of contest with the prophets of Baal? Or the sound of Peter’s fishing net hitting the water on the Sea of Galilee when Jesus had asked him to try again? Probably not the sound of the stone that was flung from David’s sling making contact with the forehead of Goliath….. that’s more a crack…. I think.

There are many such dramatic sounds to be heard in the story of our redemption. Cracks and slaps and whacks and wallops…. echoing from the soldier barracks, and resounding from the pavement of judgement, and ringing around the footings of the Cross. Such solemn sounds. But because of them, the great thwack can be heard across the world – the sound of grace hitting the heart of the human race, with the invitation to come and be reconciled to the Father of love.

DM 28^th May 2022