All change!
Dear Friends,
I haven’t heard it for a while, but then I don’t travel by train as much as I used to. When a train pulled into a station and wasn’t going any further, the announcement would be, “All change!” Everyone had to change trains, or at least leave that train.
It’s not a bad description of what it means to be a Christian: “All change!” We can’t just incorporate Jesus into our lives, but leave everything else untouched. Everyone has to change in order to become a Christian, to put Christ at the centre of our lives in place of ourselves. And we have to keep changing as Christians, continually and repeatedly putting him first in all things. There are no exceptions.
Have you noticed what different people Jesus chose to be his disciples? One of them was “a tax collector by the name of Levi” (Luke 5:27), who worked for the Roman authorities. Another was “Simon who was called the Zealot” (Luke 6:15), who was working to be rid of the Roman authorities. As you can guess, they would hardly have voted the same way in the local elections! How can Jesus have such radically different people among his followers? The answer is that everyone has to change to follow him, and so anyone can follow him. It also means that any previous allegiances must take second place when we become Christians. Truly, “all change” – and all are made new.
Chris Hobbs,
Vicar.