Cliché

"No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known." John 1. 18

"Unprecedented" must surely be the most overused word of the moment. Whenever a public figure is being held to account for the inadequacy of their, or their department's, response to the Coronavirus pandemic, their first line of defence is often "These are unprecedented times...". True enough. But, could we find ourselves excusing too much, simply because of the unusual nature of current circumstances?

Now and again things happen which change the landscape, causing us all to re-assess our assumptions, attitudes and behaviour. It may be for better or for worse. Destruction of the Twin Towers on 9/11 in New York woke up the world to the grim reality of global terrorism. More recently and more locally, the Grenfell Tower tragedy provoked a review of building standards across the UK.

At the heart of Christian proclamation is that the creator of the universe made himself known in the person of Jesus Christ and that Jesus continues to present himself through the Holy Spirit. That message is truly "unprecedented" yet its power to transform will never diminish. Because of Jesus' first coming we have the hope of everything being made new and good - as an on-going process until it reaches completion at his coming again, in glory and power. That prospect itself has power to change: how we look at the future, how we treat once another, what we think of ourselves.

You might cringe the next time you hear that word "unprecedented" but the "living word" is one we can never get enough of...