There is good news for the city of Zion.
Shout it as loud as you can from the highest mountain.
Don’t be afraid to shout to the towns of Judah,
‘Your God is here!”
Look! The powerful LORD God is coming
to rule with his mighty arm.
The LORD cares for his nation,
Just as shepherds care for their flocks.
He carries the lambs in his arms,
While gently leading the mother sheep.
Isaiah 40:9-10a, 11.
Reflect on the word GENTLE for a few moments.
“Your God is here!”
Who would believe such a headline?
Perhaps journalists would have to be assigned to writing a small column for an inside page; or spin-specialists would have to generate stories that make it controversial and sensational. Unsourced leaks would be used to make the news marketable to an over-informed age who would find it hard to consider it as credible news.
What sources do we look for to validate such a headline? Would we accept the words of the writer of Isaiah who depicts God carrying a lamb and gently leading a mother sheep?
No trumpets. No cataclysmic occurrences. No cosmic revelations, earthquakes, tidal waves or tsunamis.
A mother sheep. A baby lamb. And our God.
Dare we believe such a headline?
Help me God not to be afraid to shout the good news: “You are here!”
© Ranjini Wickramaratne-Rebera
For a number of years, our dear friend Ranjini Rebera wrote Biblical reflections for the use of Gungahlin Uniting Church and others, usually for Advent and Lent. We were privileged to receive these, as Ranjini had a working history of writing and teaching on a global stage. Each time she completed the considerable work on one of these studies for us she would announce firmly, ‘That’s it. That is the last one I’m writing. No more. End of story!’ But as Advent or Lent came around again she would start hinting that she’d had an idea for a reflection – and she would write another one.
When she completed a Reflection for Lent 2021, we were not to know that this really was the last one. Ranjini died on 13 October 2021. We miss her intellect, her leadership, her vivid personality, her artistic gifts, her deep faith and her pastoral heart. We have lost some colour from our world.
The Gungahlin Uniting Church Worship Team, where Ranjini served for several years, offers Ranjini’s study material, first produced in 2015, as we give thanks for her life shared among us.