There are no Kings or camels, not even a Star of Bethlehem in Mark’s account of Jesus’ life, instead he plunges straight into his ministry, but in this ministry we do find a guiding star. It is the star that guides him through the decisions and challenges of his ministry. That star is God’s Spirit leading him into the wilderness where he will learn his Father’s will and face the trials and temptations that would deflect and distract him.

All of us will face many of the kinds of decisions that Jesus faced, moral decisions about the way we live, the gods we worship, the power or influence that we hold. These moral decisions have come sharply into view during what has been called the ‘Post Office scandal' and I’ve been challenged to say something about the role of the Ex CEO of the Post Office and Anglican priest, Paula Vennells.

As portrayed in the recent docudrama ‘Mr Bates Vs The Post Office’, she signally fails to live up to the pastoral calling of all Priests to be a shepherd to their people and very much in the style of a powerful corporate chief. Jo Hamilton, who again played a major role in the unravelling of the Post Office cover up, has recently accused Ms. Vennells of ‘Having no moral compass’.

Pointing fingers at people never really helps, but maybe learning lessons from our all too human weaknesses can help us set our own moral compass straight. The truth is that there are many factors that drive the human psyche and draw us to a false north. In the case of Ms. Vennells I suspect it was fear that drove her, and the Post Office brand, and reputation that drew her in the wrong direction.

Protecting the institution rather than the people in the institution is, I’m afraid, one of the greatest sins of the Church, the Government and most other organisations. But, maybe as we point the finger at others we might just follow the four fingers pointing back at us! Where are the drivers in our lives, what is it that draws us with its dazzle in the wrong direction? Maybe it’s just the Lifestyle magazines and self-help manuals that inform our ideas about identity and image. They reflect a desire to aspire to and imitate the lives of those we see as icons of success and style, but leave us without an inner moral core that gives us the confidence to make our own life choices.

I love the painting by Stanley Spencer of Jesus being driven into the desert, inspired by today’s passage in Mark’s gospel. As you can see he is hanging onto a branch in front of him as if there is a hurricane blowing through the trees, but the leaves are still and the landscape around him is undisturbed. It is not the wind that is driving him, but Mark tells us the Spirit of God, and that Spirit is driving him from the inside not the outside. There is another force that Mark tells us compelling Jesus to go into the wilderness:

‘And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.’

Mark 1: 11

‘The beloved’, speaks of a relationship that draws Jesus forward to accomplish his Father’s mission. If that is so then we can do no better than look to Jesus as the model for our lives. Mark describes Jesus as both drawn and driven, drawn by the love of his father and driven by the Spirit.

The drivers of our human search for happiness and success are, sadly, often negative: guilt, anxiety, pride and fear often play a large part in our lives. Sometimes vanity draws us to images and ideals of perfection. The perfect body or the perfect home or maybe just the latest gadget, have become the measure of our ‘success’ and the condition of our ‘happiness’. At our best, however, we can rise above these very superficial desires and seek a better way to live.

I was very moved by the scene in the ‘Mr Bates Vs the Post Office’, where Alan Bates faces the assembled postmasters and mistresses and asks them ‘What are we looking for?’ Compensation, says one, redress, says another, ‘Yes, but something bigger’ replies Alan Bates. Another voice calls out, ‘Truth’, yes truth. Beyond the desire for compensation, and redress there is within these men and women an inner conviction, a guiding star, if you like, that gave them the moral courage to go on when all looked lost.

Drawn by the love of the Father. Mark introduces the ministry of Jesus by telling us of the words of love and affirmation spoken to him by his Father. This love was the source of all that Jesus did and said. As every parent and child knows, love draws out of us the very best, enabling us not only to excel in all we do, but also to be a source of encouragement and strength to others. Spencer’s portrayal of Jesus as a solid, even bulky figure, is, I believe, a way of expressing this inner strength, or moral courage, that gives Jesus ‘weight’ as a person.

Driven by the Spirit. Mark also tells us that Jesus was a ‘driven man’. The word ‘driven’ usually describes the appetites and desires which control our human behaviour. In Mark’s account we do not read of the temptations that confronted Jesus in the desert, but the struggle between his very human desires and appetites and the Spirit’s direction and guidance is clear. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus was ‘subject to weakness... though he was a Son he learned obedience’ Heb 5: 2- 8. It was in the desert that Jesus

learned obedience to the Spirit’s direction and found the courage to follow his Father’s will.

Lifestyle choices. If we are to find our way through all the lifestyle choices on offer to us today we will need a model to inspire us. At the beginning of the year as we set our sights on what we would like to achieve in our lives, ‘Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross’ Heb 12: 2.

Jesus offers a ‘Moral compass’, a guiding star, that gives us the strength to go forward sustained by the Father’s love, and strengthened by the Spirit, where joy is the driver that takes us through life’s moral morass and draws us closer to the Father’s perfect will for our lives.

A Happy New Year to all!

Rev. Simon Brignall

I am contactable from Thursday to Sunday.

A prayer for peace in the Holy land

O God of all justice and peace
we cry out to you in the midst of the pain and trauma
of violence and fear which prevails in the Holy Land.
Be with those who need you in these days of suffering;
we pray for people of all faiths – Jews, Muslims and Christians and for all people of the land.
While we pray to you, O Lord, for an end to violence and the establishment of peace.
We also call for you to bring justice and equity to the peoples.
Guide us into your kingdom
where all people are treated with dignity and honour as your children
for, to all of us, you are our Heavenly Father.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.