LAST weekend, along with many thousands of other Coventry City Football Club fans, I celebrated as the team were presented with the Championship trophy. I have been a Sky Blues fan since my teenage years. In that time, I have celebrated as they won the FA Cup (1987) and commiserated as they got demoted from the Premier League (2001). It has taken 25 years of faithful watching and waiting for the day when they have climbed their way back. Next season the Sky Blues will start in the Premiership again.

There is a great sense of satisfaction and joy when we win something. Sometimes we have to put a lot of work in and wait a while to get there. There are probably moments when all of us consider “is there a short cut?” or “how can I force what I am longing for?”.

Use of force to get what we want is rarely, if ever, a good way forward. Tempting yes, but it comes with a cost, and often to others and not ourselves. The news headlines often carry stories of nations using force against another, organisations using force to maintain their position, and we may all know someone who uses force to try and get their way at work, in our communities or sadly even amongst our families or friends.

This Sunday some of your local churches will be thinking about two guys, one called Stephen and the other called Saul. Stephen was the first Christian to lose his life because of his faith. So upset were some people in Stephen’s commitment to trusting Jesus that they threatened him with force. Stephen was unwavering in his faith and so his accusers picked up stones and hurled them at him. Saul’s contribution was to stand and watch, holding the mob’s coats so they could get at it.

I wonder who we are in this story. Are we those who try to get our way with force, or are we the ones that force is being used against? I wonder also how many times in life we are bystanders, watching on, not directly involved, but not intervening either. Perhaps being a passive bystander as others use force to get their way is no better than them.

What motivated Stephen was his faith in Jesus. The risen Jesus. The one who we are celebrating this Easter season. The one who’s selfless actions have opened the door for all of us to enjoy an abundant life. An abundance that comes not by force, but by submission. That can sound odd in our present age; receiving more than we can possibly hope for or imagine, and simply by choosing the gentle path of submission.

It is only odd when looked at from the perspective of a world that time and again sees force as the only way to get what is wanted. There is however an alternative view. The Christian view. The good news is that through Jesus we are invited into a life of abundance. Why settle for less? Pop along to any of your local churches this Sunday to find out more if you want to. Less force, more abundance. All are welcome.

Rev Andy Barton, West Tone Benefice