Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Official Report 842KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good afternoon and welcome back. Our first item of business this afternoon is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader is Andy Bathgate, who is the chief executive officer of Scripture Union Scotland.

Jesus Christ began his ministry with the words:

“The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.”

What “good news” for Scotland’s young people does Jesus bring?

Members of this Parliament rightly value the children and young people of Scotland and, like you, we in Scripture Union Scotland want to make the world a better place for them and give them hope. We do that by helping Scotland’s children and young people to explore the Bible and respond to the significance of Jesus for their lives.

Jesus called his first disciples, saying that he would make them “fishers of men”. Although that concept might seem to be redundant in 21st century Scotland, it encapsulates something that is hugely important: Jesus called ordinary fishermen, not theologians, to team up with him in his purpose for the world. The “good news” is that we follow someone who thinks that we are important enough to partner him in his service to, and saving of, the world. There is something worth getting out of bed for that has huge impact and lasting value.

Scripture Union Scotland partners others in an annual event called “Strictly Come Praying”, which is regularly attended by 350 to 400 school-age young people. How is it that, among largely secularised young people, a prayer event still draws such numbers? I think that it is largely because those young people have discovered the excitement of following Jesus and of participating in his purpose for the world through prayer. Following the event, one teenager who had always dressed in black, as a statement of her negativity towards the world, began wearing brightly coloured clothes as an outward sign of a change of heart and her new sense of purpose.

We all need the confidence that arises from being loved. Talking about “the kingdom of God” could sound authoritarian, but the rule of Jesus transforms people by love—not by harshness. We are called to “repent” but that means changing our minds and acknowledging that we do not know enough to run our lives, and that we are not independent entities. The king who can help us is no tyrant who looms over us, but someone who, in becoming a human being, understands us and cares enough to want to be with us. That is good news for everyone.

We finish with the prayer:

“May the Lord lead you into a greater understanding of God’s love and the endurance that is given by Christ.”

Amen.