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Good morning. This week marks the beginning of a new school term for many of our children and young people. Many adults, too, will be inspired by the opportunity for a fresh start - new enthusiasm, reinvigorated commitments.

Though my own school days are a distant memory I still find it hard to restrain myself from buying new stationery at this time of year. Blank pages calling to be filled, the surety of productivity and success... if only I had the right pen.

But this week also has me pondering what success really looks like. Is it to be found only in exams passed, in financial, social or educational achievements?

Jesus looks like the ultimate loser. He failed to go into the family business; instead he became an itinerant preacher, wandering the countryside with his friends. No home, no wife and family, no financial stability... He got noticed, but not always for the right reasons. Deserted by his closest friends, he died a criminal's death.

And on that cross, Jesus became the biggest loser of all time – he literally lost everything.
So maybe success looks a little different from how we expect? Maybe it looks like a disgraced preacher nailed to a tree for crimes he never committed.

Christianity is designed to be a religion of losers. We’re asked to walk in the footsteps of a God who broke every convention of what a successful human being should look like. We’re told that humility, vulnerability and love are what matter most, not bank balances or straight-A grades. And we pray for the courage to believe that this true.

God of losers and winners, challenge us with your definition of success. Mould our priorities that they might speak to the world around us of unconventional victories. Amen.