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Imagining the Lectionary:  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection
(Proper 22A/Ordinary 27A)


Reflection accompanying image “rusty handrail against blue sky”.

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection (Philippians 3:10) Being at the seaside and permanently exposed to salt-laded air it is inevitable that this iron handrail is susceptible to rust. Beneath the last vestiges of green paint the process of oxidation is clearly well advanced.  In several places the inner integrity of the metal is visibly bubbling and crumbling to powder. The process of rusting seems inexorable and if the handrail is to remain in place it needs remedial attention and painting on a regular basis.

As he writes from prison I think that this is how Paul sees his own life. The one thing he has discovered above all else is that nothing compares to the transforming power of allowing God's love in Jesus to strengthen us from within. In his experience everything else - laws, rituals, customs, the whole paraphernalia of religion - simply resembles the paint on the handrail: it covers up and masks what is going on under the surface...

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