John 18:1-11
It seems every moment, every action, every word in Jesus’ life has its own power. Such a moment came when the soldiers fell back to the ground as Jesus confirmed his identity – an affirmation of that identity, and a confirmation of what Jesus had said earlier about laying down his life of his own accord, as a matter of doing the Father’s will. No one took Jesus’ life; he laid it down (John 10:17-18). At any time in what now transpires, Jesus could have said, “stop.” His determination is signaled immediately as he stops Peter from interfering in his arrest.
Prayer:
Jesus, Lord and Friend, give me even an ounce of your resolve and determination to meet the ordinary challenges and opportunities of this day. I pray for people undergoing personal trials, or concerned for people who are. May they know and experience the power and purpose of your friendship. Most of all I thank you that your resolve gave all humanity the opportunity of a new start. Amen.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Connecting
John 17:20-26
Most of us know a lot of people. But how many people do you really know? Who really knows you?
There is unity, a bond, with God and one another for which we have an inborn longing. As Jesus approached his death, he prayed that all who knew him and would yet know him would be bound together and united in him with the same unity and purpose that flowed from the Father to and through him.
You can know all kinds of people, but we enjoy a true bond with others in being united with Jesus in the same way he is united with the Father.
Prayer:
How different life can be, Lord, from the disconnected, restless, aimless existence so many people settle for – so often because they just have no opportunity for anything else, and because your church has been so distant from their lives. Help me – all of us - ever more to be part of your moving in the world, conveying that movement and purpose in word and living to our children, and sharing it together in and through our church family to the aimless souls all around. Never let us settle for anything else. In Christ. Amen.
Most of us know a lot of people. But how many people do you really know? Who really knows you?
There is unity, a bond, with God and one another for which we have an inborn longing. As Jesus approached his death, he prayed that all who knew him and would yet know him would be bound together and united in him with the same unity and purpose that flowed from the Father to and through him.
You can know all kinds of people, but we enjoy a true bond with others in being united with Jesus in the same way he is united with the Father.
Prayer:
How different life can be, Lord, from the disconnected, restless, aimless existence so many people settle for – so often because they just have no opportunity for anything else, and because your church has been so distant from their lives. Help me – all of us - ever more to be part of your moving in the world, conveying that movement and purpose in word and living to our children, and sharing it together in and through our church family to the aimless souls all around. Never let us settle for anything else. In Christ. Amen.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Sanctified, Not Weird
John 17:6-19
Sanctify. Christ-followers are to be sanctified. How? By the truth, specifically God’s Word (verse 17). What does “sanctify” mean? Well, I guess you could work backwards: It’s what happens when you let the truth that – or who – is God’s Word have its/his way with you. At least that’s a way to keep from getting put off by any baggage you might associate with the word “sanctify.”
One of the things I like about a less formal way of doing church is that it becomes a symbol of what sanctify means: It’s not an add on, like vestments or processions and responses now seem to be to me, but rather it has to do with what we allow God to build into our everyday life and living. How? Spend time in God’s Word. Don’t settle for what some guy writes about Scripture. Soak it up for yourself. And be sanctified.
Prayer:
Wonderful God, thank you that we can receive your Word together, and as a very personal matter. Let your truth shape my next hour, my next day, and reveal to me my destiny as being yours. Through Christ. Amen.
Sanctify. Christ-followers are to be sanctified. How? By the truth, specifically God’s Word (verse 17). What does “sanctify” mean? Well, I guess you could work backwards: It’s what happens when you let the truth that – or who – is God’s Word have its/his way with you. At least that’s a way to keep from getting put off by any baggage you might associate with the word “sanctify.”
One of the things I like about a less formal way of doing church is that it becomes a symbol of what sanctify means: It’s not an add on, like vestments or processions and responses now seem to be to me, but rather it has to do with what we allow God to build into our everyday life and living. How? Spend time in God’s Word. Don’t settle for what some guy writes about Scripture. Soak it up for yourself. And be sanctified.
Prayer:
Wonderful God, thank you that we can receive your Word together, and as a very personal matter. Let your truth shape my next hour, my next day, and reveal to me my destiny as being yours. Through Christ. Amen.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Glorious Loser
John 17:1-5
In Old Testament times God’s glory was understood to have a visual aspect. God’s glory in its fullness was unbearable to look at (Exodus 34:33-35). But Paul talked about Christians increasingly reflecting the Lord’s glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).
This may be a clue to understanding Jesus’ words here. The emphasis here, I believe, is that Jesus wants to be the means of making God’s glory plain. The disciples have just commented they now find Jesus speaking more plainly (which has more to do with their increasing perception that Jesus’ speech). Now it will be visually plainer that God’s glory is revealed in Jesus - starkly, on the cross. God’s glory is his persistent love for a humanity that largely rejects him. Jesus is now completing the task of making that love graphically visual. He will then return (verse 5) to the position with the Father from which he came. His glory is most clearly known in seeing both sides of his glory – his rightful place with the Father, and his choice to subject himself to complete ingloriousness for our sake.
Prayer:
God, I think of the way we tend to think of glory – achievement, recognition, and comparison, especially comparison. How much do we stop to think about human glory being about comparison with others - as the best, as winners (meaning there are losers)? Help us to know and reflect your glory. Through Jesus. Amen.
In Old Testament times God’s glory was understood to have a visual aspect. God’s glory in its fullness was unbearable to look at (Exodus 34:33-35). But Paul talked about Christians increasingly reflecting the Lord’s glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).
This may be a clue to understanding Jesus’ words here. The emphasis here, I believe, is that Jesus wants to be the means of making God’s glory plain. The disciples have just commented they now find Jesus speaking more plainly (which has more to do with their increasing perception that Jesus’ speech). Now it will be visually plainer that God’s glory is revealed in Jesus - starkly, on the cross. God’s glory is his persistent love for a humanity that largely rejects him. Jesus is now completing the task of making that love graphically visual. He will then return (verse 5) to the position with the Father from which he came. His glory is most clearly known in seeing both sides of his glory – his rightful place with the Father, and his choice to subject himself to complete ingloriousness for our sake.
Prayer:
God, I think of the way we tend to think of glory – achievement, recognition, and comparison, especially comparison. How much do we stop to think about human glory being about comparison with others - as the best, as winners (meaning there are losers)? Help us to know and reflect your glory. Through Jesus. Amen.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
A Clear Path
John 16:23-33
We pray “through Jesus Christ” and “in Jesus’ name,” but this passage portays direct access to the Father, made possible because Jesus made himself one with us, and then returned to the Father. He activated the terminals at both ends. We pray “through Jesus” not so much because he takes our questions, pleas and praises and looks them over and passes them on, but because he has cleared the path. As we are “in” Jesus through acknowledging him as Lord, how can the heavenly Father ignore us (even if he were of a mind to)? When he sees us, he sees his Son. He treats us as his very own children, through adoption with Jesus as our brother.
Prayer:
God, thank you for bridging the enormousness of the gap between you and me. Through Jesus. Amen.
We pray “through Jesus Christ” and “in Jesus’ name,” but this passage portays direct access to the Father, made possible because Jesus made himself one with us, and then returned to the Father. He activated the terminals at both ends. We pray “through Jesus” not so much because he takes our questions, pleas and praises and looks them over and passes them on, but because he has cleared the path. As we are “in” Jesus through acknowledging him as Lord, how can the heavenly Father ignore us (even if he were of a mind to)? When he sees us, he sees his Son. He treats us as his very own children, through adoption with Jesus as our brother.
Prayer:
God, thank you for bridging the enormousness of the gap between you and me. Through Jesus. Amen.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Use Your Joy
John 16:16-22
The disciples, Jesus warns, are about to experience intense grief. Not only will they see Jesus die in an apparent defeat, that defeat will represent an apparent win by the forces against him. But he wants them to know that this will lead to vindication and enduring joy. The vindication will not be of a “so there” variety, but rather a celebration of promise fulfilled, that the truth and light highlighted throughout this Gospel will win out. It is anything but vindication of the “so there” variety because the ministry of those vindicated will be to the world that appeared to win against him and them. But they will have with them – as may we have – a deep and abiding joy.
This is no fading glory type victory (like for, say, the Carolina Hurricanes), but just the beginning of an adventure. They will take the joy of knowing truth and light with them. In Christ, we know we have a place with God. This is a hardly a matter of smugness or better-than-othersness, because it’s all of his doing. We don’t have to do anything more to gain that place; it’s already ours. As noted yesterday, Christians, as the Body of the Risen Christ who loves the world, have a great responsibility toward a world that largely will reject and even mock our efforts. But the responsibility is beautifully wrapped up inside the joy.
Prayer:
Jesus, thank you that my salvation is not my responsibility. But I sense that my joy in it is my responsibility, my choice, my decision. I can choose to wear this responsibility heavily, somberly, and so fulfill it ineffectively; or I can make it my life’s breath, with a spirit that is lighter than air. Since you’ve promised I won’t lose it, I choose joy. Amen.
The disciples, Jesus warns, are about to experience intense grief. Not only will they see Jesus die in an apparent defeat, that defeat will represent an apparent win by the forces against him. But he wants them to know that this will lead to vindication and enduring joy. The vindication will not be of a “so there” variety, but rather a celebration of promise fulfilled, that the truth and light highlighted throughout this Gospel will win out. It is anything but vindication of the “so there” variety because the ministry of those vindicated will be to the world that appeared to win against him and them. But they will have with them – as may we have – a deep and abiding joy.
This is no fading glory type victory (like for, say, the Carolina Hurricanes), but just the beginning of an adventure. They will take the joy of knowing truth and light with them. In Christ, we know we have a place with God. This is a hardly a matter of smugness or better-than-othersness, because it’s all of his doing. We don’t have to do anything more to gain that place; it’s already ours. As noted yesterday, Christians, as the Body of the Risen Christ who loves the world, have a great responsibility toward a world that largely will reject and even mock our efforts. But the responsibility is beautifully wrapped up inside the joy.
Prayer:
Jesus, thank you that my salvation is not my responsibility. But I sense that my joy in it is my responsibility, my choice, my decision. I can choose to wear this responsibility heavily, somberly, and so fulfill it ineffectively; or I can make it my life’s breath, with a spirit that is lighter than air. Since you’ve promised I won’t lose it, I choose joy. Amen.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Shot Deflection
John 16:5-15
One role of the Spirit is to convict the world of its sin. But wait. How is the conviction announced? We have to note that when the Spirit came in place of Jesus’ bodily presence, it made no difference to the world. The court proceedings evidently take place in the mind and heart and ministry of the disciples. The church has a ‘conviction’ of the sin and guilt of the world. God, for the time being, does not judge the world for being the world. It doesn’t know any better. He loads all the responsibility for it onto the Body to which the conviction is made known.
Prayer:
Lord, some of us find it so ironic that our friends see our Christianity as a crutch. Thank you that there is indeed wonderful and certain comfort, assurance and encouragement in our faith. But it comes in the course of fulfilling a critical purpose: being your ambassadors to a world that you persist in loving even though it rebels against you. Help us all to know our part. Through Jesus. Amen.
One role of the Spirit is to convict the world of its sin. But wait. How is the conviction announced? We have to note that when the Spirit came in place of Jesus’ bodily presence, it made no difference to the world. The court proceedings evidently take place in the mind and heart and ministry of the disciples. The church has a ‘conviction’ of the sin and guilt of the world. God, for the time being, does not judge the world for being the world. It doesn’t know any better. He loads all the responsibility for it onto the Body to which the conviction is made known.
Prayer:
Lord, some of us find it so ironic that our friends see our Christianity as a crutch. Thank you that there is indeed wonderful and certain comfort, assurance and encouragement in our faith. But it comes in the course of fulfilling a critical purpose: being your ambassadors to a world that you persist in loving even though it rebels against you. Help us all to know our part. Through Jesus. Amen.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Stirred, Not Shaken
John 16:1-4
Jesus mentions twice in this little section (verses 1 and 4) why he is warning the disciples about the persecution they will face. It is so they will not be shaken out of their faith. This connects with the role of the “Counselor” as described in John 14:25-27. When Jesus is no longer physically with them the Spirit will keep them in the Truth and give them peace.
One can imagine how necessary and powerful this would have been for the disciples to recall in the wake of the resurrection. It might have seemed that they should be entering an era of bliss, and yet worldly troubles would still haunt them. There is a parallel in this for the person coming into faith, who will find that Christians experience the same kind of trials and disappointments as the rest of the world. The tension may be all the more acute because of the power of darkness that wants to use the circumstances of this world to shake our faith, just when it is most needed.
Prayer:
God, breathe your Spirit in us when something disturbs the expected pattern of life, when peace is fractured and hopes are tattered. Thank you for the support and friendship you provide. Let there be light. In Jesus. Amen.
Jesus mentions twice in this little section (verses 1 and 4) why he is warning the disciples about the persecution they will face. It is so they will not be shaken out of their faith. This connects with the role of the “Counselor” as described in John 14:25-27. When Jesus is no longer physically with them the Spirit will keep them in the Truth and give them peace.
One can imagine how necessary and powerful this would have been for the disciples to recall in the wake of the resurrection. It might have seemed that they should be entering an era of bliss, and yet worldly troubles would still haunt them. There is a parallel in this for the person coming into faith, who will find that Christians experience the same kind of trials and disappointments as the rest of the world. The tension may be all the more acute because of the power of darkness that wants to use the circumstances of this world to shake our faith, just when it is most needed.
Prayer:
God, breathe your Spirit in us when something disturbs the expected pattern of life, when peace is fractured and hopes are tattered. Thank you for the support and friendship you provide. Let there be light. In Jesus. Amen.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Acceptance
John 15:18-27
Hate is such an ugly word. I hate it.
I am grateful, however, that my body hates germs. There is stuff in my blood that hates germs and works to kill them off because the stuff knows those germs don’t belong in my body. People who do transplants have to take this into account and work around it or counteract it (I have no idea how they do that) without forever preventing the body from fighting off stuff it should fight. It’s an amazing and heroic thing to accomplish.
It would seem that Jesus is a foreign body to the world, and so also are those who are “in” him. The world tries to reject him and those who are in him. Funny, we don’t mention this in church ads.
How did Jesus handle this? He let the world reject him, and then came back and gave us the job of spreading his wonderfully illogical love for the world that rejected him.
Prayer:
There is so much sense of rejection everywhere, Lord Jesus, and so much need for simple acceptance and unconditional love. Thank you for bearing rejection for us all, and for accepting me as I am. Help me live and convey your Spirit of acceptance, and grow together with others into what you know we can yet be. Amen.
Hate is such an ugly word. I hate it.
I am grateful, however, that my body hates germs. There is stuff in my blood that hates germs and works to kill them off because the stuff knows those germs don’t belong in my body. People who do transplants have to take this into account and work around it or counteract it (I have no idea how they do that) without forever preventing the body from fighting off stuff it should fight. It’s an amazing and heroic thing to accomplish.
It would seem that Jesus is a foreign body to the world, and so also are those who are “in” him. The world tries to reject him and those who are in him. Funny, we don’t mention this in church ads.
How did Jesus handle this? He let the world reject him, and then came back and gave us the job of spreading his wonderfully illogical love for the world that rejected him.
Prayer:
There is so much sense of rejection everywhere, Lord Jesus, and so much need for simple acceptance and unconditional love. Thank you for bearing rejection for us all, and for accepting me as I am. Help me live and convey your Spirit of acceptance, and grow together with others into what you know we can yet be. Amen.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Sap In Your Veins
John 15:1-17
The image of the vine brings forward the importance and imperative of fruitfulness in Christian life. The fruitfulness of Christian character is probably what is in mind. Other kinds of fruitfulness are important, and connected, to that character – like the bringing of new believers to the church – but it would be in keeping with what we’ve read so far in John and with other New Testament passages for us to focus here on Christian character as a product of the Spirit, who has been at the center of Jesus’ discussion just before this.
The vine is to John what the Body of Christ is in Paul’s language. The Christian must have a vital, living link with his/her Saviour. Any part of our life that impedes that life-flow must be dealt with decisively. Just as Paul in 1 Corinthians said anything that is not of love – no matter how outwardly valuable it may seem – is not just not what it should be, but worthless; so here we need a living connection with our Saviour for authentic faith and life. It is also a variation on a theme contained in the conversation of Jesus with the woman at the well in John 4. There we reflected that we depend on the flow of life from Jesus; we have no reservoir. It is true of the natural world that there is no life without movement. There is no true Christian life without continuous growth: new ways of reaching out, increasing purity of motive in our offering of our lives back to God (worship in the midst of life), deepening intentional fellowship, and expansiveness in our giving and serving. We can grow at a different pace at different times, but there is no standing still, no mere pew-sitting.
If there is any attitude, any habit, any resentment, jealousy or inertia that is keeping us from growing, we need to prune it, or we will be like the fellow Nicky Gumbel of Alpha talks about in a “Beta” talk, who found he was saved but wasn’t really living.
Prayer:
Lord, teach me the difference between self-preoccupation and self-examination. Through Jesus. Amen.
The image of the vine brings forward the importance and imperative of fruitfulness in Christian life. The fruitfulness of Christian character is probably what is in mind. Other kinds of fruitfulness are important, and connected, to that character – like the bringing of new believers to the church – but it would be in keeping with what we’ve read so far in John and with other New Testament passages for us to focus here on Christian character as a product of the Spirit, who has been at the center of Jesus’ discussion just before this.
The vine is to John what the Body of Christ is in Paul’s language. The Christian must have a vital, living link with his/her Saviour. Any part of our life that impedes that life-flow must be dealt with decisively. Just as Paul in 1 Corinthians said anything that is not of love – no matter how outwardly valuable it may seem – is not just not what it should be, but worthless; so here we need a living connection with our Saviour for authentic faith and life. It is also a variation on a theme contained in the conversation of Jesus with the woman at the well in John 4. There we reflected that we depend on the flow of life from Jesus; we have no reservoir. It is true of the natural world that there is no life without movement. There is no true Christian life without continuous growth: new ways of reaching out, increasing purity of motive in our offering of our lives back to God (worship in the midst of life), deepening intentional fellowship, and expansiveness in our giving and serving. We can grow at a different pace at different times, but there is no standing still, no mere pew-sitting.
If there is any attitude, any habit, any resentment, jealousy or inertia that is keeping us from growing, we need to prune it, or we will be like the fellow Nicky Gumbel of Alpha talks about in a “Beta” talk, who found he was saved but wasn’t really living.
Prayer:
Lord, teach me the difference between self-preoccupation and self-examination. Through Jesus. Amen.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Leaving and Peace
John 14:25-31
I often quote verse 27 at the beginning of funerals. I’ve just seen a new significance in bringing these words to that human context filled with every kind of thought and emotion.
It has to do with clinging and releasing. Jesus promises peace to the disciples as he is leaving, which would be really tough even though he is promising to return. At that moment, and until they experience him resurrected, they would be just overflowing with fear and perplexity. The natural reaction in that experience is to cling to something. But here Jesus says their peace is necessarily connected with his leaving, because only in leaving will he fulfill his purpose, and it is in taking up his mission, in fulfilling that purpose, that the disciples will truly know peace. The Counselor/Spirit comes not just to comfort but to empower them (see John 20:21). “I do not give to you as the world give,” he says. It is the world’s approach to peace to acquire, to medicate, to cling – and it goes nowhere good.
The prince of this world, the world that clings, has no hold on him! So neither does the prince of this world have any hold on those who are united with Jesus, and live and breathe with the Spirit of truth.
Peace is release and release is peace. But no one says it’s easy.
Prayer:
God, you are so wise in your ways I hesitate to say so for fear it sounds like I’m evaluating you. You define wisdom, you are love, you alone bring peace. I only perceive these things in and from you because they come from you in the first place. If at some moment I appear wise may it be your wisdom that is acknowledged and lived. Thank you for the peace that comes with it. In Jesus. Amen.
I often quote verse 27 at the beginning of funerals. I’ve just seen a new significance in bringing these words to that human context filled with every kind of thought and emotion.
It has to do with clinging and releasing. Jesus promises peace to the disciples as he is leaving, which would be really tough even though he is promising to return. At that moment, and until they experience him resurrected, they would be just overflowing with fear and perplexity. The natural reaction in that experience is to cling to something. But here Jesus says their peace is necessarily connected with his leaving, because only in leaving will he fulfill his purpose, and it is in taking up his mission, in fulfilling that purpose, that the disciples will truly know peace. The Counselor/Spirit comes not just to comfort but to empower them (see John 20:21). “I do not give to you as the world give,” he says. It is the world’s approach to peace to acquire, to medicate, to cling – and it goes nowhere good.
The prince of this world, the world that clings, has no hold on him! So neither does the prince of this world have any hold on those who are united with Jesus, and live and breathe with the Spirit of truth.
Peace is release and release is peace. But no one says it’s easy.
Prayer:
God, you are so wise in your ways I hesitate to say so for fear it sounds like I’m evaluating you. You define wisdom, you are love, you alone bring peace. I only perceive these things in and from you because they come from you in the first place. If at some moment I appear wise may it be your wisdom that is acknowledged and lived. Thank you for the peace that comes with it. In Jesus. Amen.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Believe, Welcome, Glorify
More on
John 14:15-24
This chapter started with a promise about a dwelling place for the disciples of Jesus with God. Now Jesus says “we will come and make our home with” anyone who loves him and obeys his teaching. “We” refers to Jesus and the Father. But he has also said loving and obeying him will lead to him asking the Father to send “another counselor,” the Holy Spirit. So the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, to be with us “forever” (verse ) seems to be a condition for the further loving of the Son and obeying him that leads to the indwelling of the fullness of God.
The indwelling of the Spirit also adds to our understanding of doing greater works than Jesus (John 14:12). Jesus leaves for “a little while,” and returns in his post-resurrection appearances, but the Spirit remains and empowers the human parts of that Body and the Body as a whole, to do things with exponentially growing power and effect (see Acts 2).
It is a simple order of things we ought to be able to follow: believe and obey the Son, welcome the Holy Spirit to empower us to continue as Christ’s Body, and glorify the Father. Believe, welcome, glorify. You could organize a whole church, or your life, around it: Believe, welcome, glorify; mirroring the work of the Trinity in and through us.
Prayer:
God, may I believe your Son died for me and now intercedes for me before your throne, welcome your Holy Spirit to bring to birth and empower new life, and glorify You through all you do through me as a result. Amen.
John 14:15-24
This chapter started with a promise about a dwelling place for the disciples of Jesus with God. Now Jesus says “we will come and make our home with” anyone who loves him and obeys his teaching. “We” refers to Jesus and the Father. But he has also said loving and obeying him will lead to him asking the Father to send “another counselor,” the Holy Spirit. So the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, to be with us “forever” (verse ) seems to be a condition for the further loving of the Son and obeying him that leads to the indwelling of the fullness of God.
The indwelling of the Spirit also adds to our understanding of doing greater works than Jesus (John 14:12). Jesus leaves for “a little while,” and returns in his post-resurrection appearances, but the Spirit remains and empowers the human parts of that Body and the Body as a whole, to do things with exponentially growing power and effect (see Acts 2).
It is a simple order of things we ought to be able to follow: believe and obey the Son, welcome the Holy Spirit to empower us to continue as Christ’s Body, and glorify the Father. Believe, welcome, glorify. You could organize a whole church, or your life, around it: Believe, welcome, glorify; mirroring the work of the Trinity in and through us.
Prayer:
God, may I believe your Son died for me and now intercedes for me before your throne, welcome your Holy Spirit to bring to birth and empower new life, and glorify You through all you do through me as a result. Amen.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Delegated
John 14:15-24
I marvel at this. God could choose to accomplish what he wants to do any way he chooses. But he lets us “help.”
A lot of times, as a leader and as a parent, I’m tempted to just do things myself. In some ways it’s simpler. But one of the ways my church, Knox, is growing, is in expanding leadership and involvement. That’s what makes it especially exciting these days, and a great sign of the new thing happening in Midland in and through Knox Church. To release leadership and ministry to others is arguably the greatest joy, and reward, of effective leadership.
In the realm of parenting, I find that our boys are at the stage where letting them do things is no longer a matter of humouring them. In other words, they can really help. Again, sometimes it would be easier, Melissa and I find, to just do things ourselves. It would be less hassle, some mornings, to just make their beds rather than insist that they do it. But that wouldn’t really help them, and persisting in such a discipline develops in them stuff that they will appreciate in the long run (one hopes).
I think this is the kind of experience from which we could approach this text. When Judas (not the betrayer) asks why Jesus is revealing things to the disciples and working through the them rather than manifesting himself directly to the world, I think the answer is that God sees great value in doing what he wants to do through his kids. His kids are first of all those who are such through adoption, an adoption effected through belief in his “begotten” son. We therefore become his adopted children, and come under his care and loving discipline. He seems to think it’s better for all concerned if he works through his adopted children walking this earth than through some cosmic sign revealed to all that would probably get explained away as mass hallucination or something anyway.
Our great resource in this enterprise is the Holy Spirit, probably the most ignored aspect of divinely-empowered life in the church tradition of which I am part. I’ll stay with this passage another day to talk about the Holy Spirit.
Prayer:
Jesus, make me more and more a doer of your will, that in my obedience I may experience your presence, and have some small part in the acknowledgment and welcoming of your Kingdom. Amen.
I marvel at this. God could choose to accomplish what he wants to do any way he chooses. But he lets us “help.”
A lot of times, as a leader and as a parent, I’m tempted to just do things myself. In some ways it’s simpler. But one of the ways my church, Knox, is growing, is in expanding leadership and involvement. That’s what makes it especially exciting these days, and a great sign of the new thing happening in Midland in and through Knox Church. To release leadership and ministry to others is arguably the greatest joy, and reward, of effective leadership.
In the realm of parenting, I find that our boys are at the stage where letting them do things is no longer a matter of humouring them. In other words, they can really help. Again, sometimes it would be easier, Melissa and I find, to just do things ourselves. It would be less hassle, some mornings, to just make their beds rather than insist that they do it. But that wouldn’t really help them, and persisting in such a discipline develops in them stuff that they will appreciate in the long run (one hopes).
I think this is the kind of experience from which we could approach this text. When Judas (not the betrayer) asks why Jesus is revealing things to the disciples and working through the them rather than manifesting himself directly to the world, I think the answer is that God sees great value in doing what he wants to do through his kids. His kids are first of all those who are such through adoption, an adoption effected through belief in his “begotten” son. We therefore become his adopted children, and come under his care and loving discipline. He seems to think it’s better for all concerned if he works through his adopted children walking this earth than through some cosmic sign revealed to all that would probably get explained away as mass hallucination or something anyway.
Our great resource in this enterprise is the Holy Spirit, probably the most ignored aspect of divinely-empowered life in the church tradition of which I am part. I’ll stay with this passage another day to talk about the Holy Spirit.
Prayer:
Jesus, make me more and more a doer of your will, that in my obedience I may experience your presence, and have some small part in the acknowledgment and welcoming of your Kingdom. Amen.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
A Transforming Union
John 14:8-14
“Through Jesus Christ our Lord” or “In Jesus’ name” are not just formalities at the end of a prayer. They signify a desire to be aligned with Jesus' purposes. It goes without saying, I hope, that just adding them doesn’t make it a reality. To pray in Jesus’ name is an outcome of union with him, and therefore also with the Father. If that is the reality, we will pray with a concern that whatever we pray will lead to furthering the work Jesus started in his earthly ministry. God will certainly honour that!
Does that leave room for praying for, say, help with an exam, or for help through any anxious time? Of course! For one thing, like any loving parent God just loves to hear from us with any request. Secondly, as we continually grow in our walk with Jesus it becomes more and more the reality that any and all prayers we bring to God – even those that might seem selfish in some way – end up glorifying him because we dedicate every aspect of our life to him.
To put it another way, life in union with Jesus is the truly free life, because there is nothing that is not turned to the purpose of glorifying God. We live with joyful, open hands, just giving everything to him.
Prayer:
God, what a warm, wonderful thought to know you care about my every care. Thank you. Reveal to me today how some personal or seemingly selfish concern can be transformed through my union with your Son to work to your glory. Amen.
“Through Jesus Christ our Lord” or “In Jesus’ name” are not just formalities at the end of a prayer. They signify a desire to be aligned with Jesus' purposes. It goes without saying, I hope, that just adding them doesn’t make it a reality. To pray in Jesus’ name is an outcome of union with him, and therefore also with the Father. If that is the reality, we will pray with a concern that whatever we pray will lead to furthering the work Jesus started in his earthly ministry. God will certainly honour that!
Does that leave room for praying for, say, help with an exam, or for help through any anxious time? Of course! For one thing, like any loving parent God just loves to hear from us with any request. Secondly, as we continually grow in our walk with Jesus it becomes more and more the reality that any and all prayers we bring to God – even those that might seem selfish in some way – end up glorifying him because we dedicate every aspect of our life to him.
To put it another way, life in union with Jesus is the truly free life, because there is nothing that is not turned to the purpose of glorifying God. We live with joyful, open hands, just giving everything to him.
Prayer:
God, what a warm, wonderful thought to know you care about my every care. Thank you. Reveal to me today how some personal or seemingly selfish concern can be transformed through my union with your Son to work to your glory. Amen.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Troubled
John 14:1-7
You can understand Thomas’ confusion, and appreciate his honesty. Jesus has just told them they can’t go where he is going (John 13:33). They can’t, of course, follow in the path he is about to take, but he assures them he is going to prepare a place for them. He will come back and take them there. Still, “How can we know the way?” is a real good question.
Besides, I suspect that “Do not let your hearts be troubled” doesn’t capture the compassion with which Jesus would have said it. Consider how “troubled” the disciples must have been. I mean, they left everything to follow him, and now he’s quite willing to spiral on down into a very ugly death. What will become of them? It’s no wonder they made no sense of all this until after the resurrection.
How can someone be “the way” (the connection to God), “the truth” (what is reliable in a world of lies and deception) and the “life” (a matter of relationship with the divine rather than physical life alone) when it appears he will be judged and executed as a low-life criminal? It just doesn’t add up. And the way, the truth, the life? The definite article already makes the claim that all hope rests in him.
The only answer that makes sense of any of this comes immediately in the text: in really knowing him. You can debate around these things endlessly, but the only answer that will ever make any enduring sense is in getting to know him. I know, that presupposes a certain outcome to any debate about his reality, the authenticity of this Scripture, etc. But as for me, I find most compelling what real people, including me, have actually experienced: This Jesus does touch troubled hearts. This Jesus does overcome things that seem insurmountable. To know him is to know the Father. He will come back. He does indeed have a place for you and me. And it’s really, really big.
Prayer:
Jesus, help me just to know you better, through intimate knowledge of your words and actions in Scripture, through my prayer life, through fellowship with other believers, through facing the needs in hearts and in the world that distress you, through the hope you bring in making all things new, and through a church that is truly alive. Amen.
You can understand Thomas’ confusion, and appreciate his honesty. Jesus has just told them they can’t go where he is going (John 13:33). They can’t, of course, follow in the path he is about to take, but he assures them he is going to prepare a place for them. He will come back and take them there. Still, “How can we know the way?” is a real good question.
Besides, I suspect that “Do not let your hearts be troubled” doesn’t capture the compassion with which Jesus would have said it. Consider how “troubled” the disciples must have been. I mean, they left everything to follow him, and now he’s quite willing to spiral on down into a very ugly death. What will become of them? It’s no wonder they made no sense of all this until after the resurrection.
How can someone be “the way” (the connection to God), “the truth” (what is reliable in a world of lies and deception) and the “life” (a matter of relationship with the divine rather than physical life alone) when it appears he will be judged and executed as a low-life criminal? It just doesn’t add up. And the way, the truth, the life? The definite article already makes the claim that all hope rests in him.
The only answer that makes sense of any of this comes immediately in the text: in really knowing him. You can debate around these things endlessly, but the only answer that will ever make any enduring sense is in getting to know him. I know, that presupposes a certain outcome to any debate about his reality, the authenticity of this Scripture, etc. But as for me, I find most compelling what real people, including me, have actually experienced: This Jesus does touch troubled hearts. This Jesus does overcome things that seem insurmountable. To know him is to know the Father. He will come back. He does indeed have a place for you and me. And it’s really, really big.
Prayer:
Jesus, help me just to know you better, through intimate knowledge of your words and actions in Scripture, through my prayer life, through fellowship with other believers, through facing the needs in hearts and in the world that distress you, through the hope you bring in making all things new, and through a church that is truly alive. Amen.
Friday, June 02, 2006
This Is Glory?
John 13:31-38
The last verse we read announced, with Judas’ choice of betrayal, “And it was night” (John 13:30). This is loaded language in John’s talk. By what strange order of things does the next verse say, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him.”?
God’s glory is revealed not just with the resurrection, but with his stooping to endure the worst of human cruelty, hatred and betrayal, out of love. How can we not then love one another? The command to love others is not really new, but it is new coming in this way and in such a powerful situation. The command and the passion in it comes not just from the words but even more from the surrounding action.
Prayer:
Jesus, we think we’re being gracious to love others who have done stupid things to or affecting us. You loved knowing what stupid and mean things would be done by those you were dying for. You even died for those who perpetrated your death. You know every stupid thing I will yet do and still you love me. I resolve to live your command. Amen.
The last verse we read announced, with Judas’ choice of betrayal, “And it was night” (John 13:30). This is loaded language in John’s talk. By what strange order of things does the next verse say, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him.”?
God’s glory is revealed not just with the resurrection, but with his stooping to endure the worst of human cruelty, hatred and betrayal, out of love. How can we not then love one another? The command to love others is not really new, but it is new coming in this way and in such a powerful situation. The command and the passion in it comes not just from the words but even more from the surrounding action.
Prayer:
Jesus, we think we’re being gracious to love others who have done stupid things to or affecting us. You loved knowing what stupid and mean things would be done by those you were dying for. You even died for those who perpetrated your death. You know every stupid thing I will yet do and still you love me. I resolve to live your command. Amen.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
And it was night
John 13:21-30
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
John 3:19
As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
John 9:4
As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.
John 13:30
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
John 20:1
The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. (NIV notes “understood” could also be “overcome”)
John 1:5
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
John 3:19
As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
John 9:4
As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.
John 13:30
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
John 20:1
The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. (NIV notes “understood” could also be “overcome”)
John 1:5
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