Marian
Scriptures: 2 Peter 2 Nehemia 8:10 John 4:24
When I opened the Church Times and discovered that this year we remember the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush arriving in Tilbury from the West Indies, it seemed the perfect topic to lead us into our Bread of Life devotion. Windrush carried hundreds of people from the Caribbean who were responding to the call from Britain, “the “mother country”, to help rebuild our war-ravaged nation. Even as my eyes fell upon the headline, ‘WINDRUSH DAY’, memories from my childhood came flooding back.
On the day Empire Windrush came into dock, I was six years old. In those days Wolverley was a very small population and all our neighbours were white British citizens, apart from a few white Americans who deemed our village a safe haven for their temporary war time Army Hospital. My parents had told me there was a big world outside the village, but I had no idea what the people from other lands looked like. War brought hardship and food rationing which continued for several years, sadly some fathers and sons never returned home having died in active service.
Our village gardens became small allotments where children were encouraged to help with sowing and reaping in order to put food on our tables. World news came via a battery operated wireless and a daily newspaper. My parents would show me the Headlines and explain what was happening. When the Windrush ship arrived, I became aware that there were black people in the world. This greatly excited me and my mother explained that God gave them black skin because they were born in very hot countries where white skin would have badly burned. She told me that their black skin was God’s special gift to them to help protect them from the hot sun. I asked if I could have a black dolly for Christmas, and from the moment I saw my special black baby doll I became inseparable from her. She came to bed with me, and I insisted on taking her to ballet class where she danced with me!
I’ve shared this memory because I am certain that those first black people were God’s most special gift to our nation. Their ancestors had been through cruel slavery. They had faced unimaginable hardship, and were not often treated with respect simply because of the colour of their skin. Yet, through it all these dear people grew closer to God and their worship remained lively and sincere. Truly they were living proof of the words in Nehemiah 8:10 which says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Since those days I’ve had the joy of befriending and worshipping in the black Pentecostal churches during our years in Bedford where I was privileged and blessed to count them among my most precious friends. By example, they taught me to trust God through all circumstances, and their worship has carried me into new realms where I discovered the overwhelming joy in drawing ever closer to Jesus. They taught me to value and love the Bible. I’m certain that those who arrived here on Empire Windrush helped to bring life and hope back into our British churches. However, in reading the article, I am saddened to learn that they weren’t always made welcome by our Anglican churches, and this is why we have so many Black Pentecostal churches today. How rich in worship might our Anglican churches have become had these dear brothers and sisters been embraced and given the space to flourish alongside our people as they helped re-build our war torn land. Ironically, we are told that many Anglican churches are shrinking and closing today, and I can’t help wondering how different things might have been if they had embraced these joyful black worshippers all those years ago. Their churches continue to thrive and grow.
This week we are looking again at the instruction, “IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH”. Those words are found in John Chapter 4 which we have read in the previous two weeks.
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” Even as I read those words I realised that this was the kind of worship I experienced alongside my black friends. How greatly our British reserve holds us back from truly experiencing our dear Lord ‘in Spirit and in Truth’. My black friends have a complete love for Scripture and a childlike faith that leaves many of us in the shade.
I’ve come to see clearly that if we truly want to KNOW God’s LOVE we need also to understand His TRUTH. We discover His Truth by studying and embracing His Word, inviting HOLY SPIRIT to open our minds and hearts to see and understand. Nowadays we live in a time of great deception where the love of God has been so weakened that repentance is rarely mentioned, and ungodly lifestyles have become acceptable. Today we fight the enemy within, for he has entered our churches where he is finding a welcome from people who profess to belong to God. These times are spoken about in 2 Peter 2, and when I study that chapter against the backdrop of all we’ve witnessed in the media news in recent months, I find it alarming. For the sake of their own souls may our Heavenly Father turn back those church leaders who have denied selective Scriptures and embraced things the bible calls sin, even seeking to teach others to do likewise. May God have mercy and bring His church – His Bride – back into the security we find in Christ alone, and may He fill us anew with a passion for reaching out to our nation’s children and making disciples as Jesus taught us to do. May His church once again join as one to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
Prayer: Abba Father we come to you again and ask forgiveness for the times when we have not loved You as we should. Help us to learn from our brothers and sisters from other lands where our forefathers bravely ventured to take Your Word and Your Love, sometimes losing their own lives in doing so. Thank You for the wonderful people who arrived on the Windrush Ship 75 years ago to help rebuild our nation after the war, and thank You especially for the impact they have had upon the churches in our land as they showed us how to find joy in You alone. Holy Spirit fall again upon all who belong to You. May sincere worship in Spirit and in Truth lead us again to love and stand firm upon Your Holy Word.
Spirit of the living God, Fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, Fall afresh on me.
Melt me, Mold me, Fill me, Use me,
Spirit of the living God. Fall afresh on me.
Amen
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