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I'm sharing this journal entry from one of our sheep / shepherds for your encouragement and invite you to share your stories to keep us connected David
Thursday April 2, 2020: A journal entry:
JESUS WEPT.
A Morning mist of low cloud wrapped soft around the hills.
I read John 6 and tried to ponder on Jesus the living bread. But the mist beckoned and drew me outside, quickly enfolding me in its clammy embrace.
There was no pausing to choose direction. I headed straight up the hill blanketed in the foggy stillness, only birdcall echoing the inner certainty – she’s coming to pray.
Pray up the hill. I haven’t prayed up there for a while. I’ve prayed. But not there on God’s hill, my place of retreat.
At the summit, as cloud drifted and lifted, it was my heart that rained out its anguished plea, the cry for help with COVID19: LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER. Help us Jesus.
That was it. No wordy waffle. I perched on the rim of the damp bench, poised in grief and need; heart, mind and spirit turned to God, “Yet still do I praise you Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Living God.”
A lull then settled over me, like a mute button had been pressed to hush the turmoil of my distressed thoughts and wretched emotions concerning the plight of the world’s people. Wait. Be quiet!
Jesus wept. The words from last Sunday’s reading came to mind loud and clear.
33 When Jesus saw her crying, and the Judaeans who had come with her crying, he was deeply stirred in his spirit, and very troubled. 34 ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked. ‘Master,’ they said, ‘come and see.’ 35 Jesus burst into tears. (John 11:33-35 NTE)
I too burst into tears, and as I wept, there at the top of the hill, I knew he was weeping with me. Weeping with all the world. Weeping for us all.
Turn to me. And I, turning, vision all awash, could see clearly, he was there. Feed my sheep. To this I shook my head, and thought, I’m no pastor. You are a minister of my word. Therefore, speak my word to others. Speak my word to one another. And suddenly understanding dawned. “You aren’t just saying this to me, are you? It’s your call to all of us: Feed your sheep. The responsibility is ours collectively.” And I pictured the scattered sheep, isolated from one another but belonging together and needing creative new ways of being church and speaking grace and hope to one another and others.
I plunged, then, down the hill, not following the worn paths but winding down the steeper slope, weaving through knee high weeds, around rocky mounds and patches of slippery flattened grass, to emerge at the wider base track.
Now is the time to forge new paths. Jesus is still the Way, the “base track” of my faith remains the same. It’s the network of familiar paths that represent how we have lived out our faith, that have fallen away, not God’s word or his kingdom, or his love.
I am thankful for this love that comes to us where we are: scattered sheep weeping in the mist of uncertainty. I’m thankful that Jesus wept and that his way isn’t set in stone. That he comes and calls us to discover a new and living way, today and tomorrow and the next day. Hallelujah! This is a new day! And the Jesus who weeps with us in our distress will renew us and lead us on beyond COVID19.
JESUS WEPT.
The autumn sun filtered a pale ray through the drifting grey. A reminder that the God who weeps, also sheds light as well as tears.
Eternity – what a concept
by Sue Smith
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
Read Ecclesiastes 11:9–12:7
Having recently retired after more than 38 years working at one company, I thought I was quite aware of what this next phase would mean and bring.
I have watched others go down this path. I’m well aware that you need to have other goals and activities in your life. I regularly exercise and have formed good connections in all the groups to which I belong.
I note with a little chagrin that my body isn’t quite the same as it was 10 or 20 years ago, when everything seemed achievable. I like to think that I am emotionally aware. I also participate in several committees, which keep my brain active. People have told me that it takes a year – and I thought that seemed a little too ‘over the top’. But I have been struggling a little to rediscover my identity in this world.
Today’s passage reminds us of just how quickly life and its twists and turns come and go. It points out quite clearly that this body will return to where it began – dust returning to the earth. Our lives are finite and constrained by what we know of this world.
Recently, when driving on a highway, I was reminded of Keith Green’s song ‘I can’t wait to get to heaven’. He opens it by saying that God made Earth in six days, but Jesus has been working on heaven for two thousand years – so can you imagine what that will be like? There is so much more out there!
Everything starts and ends with God. Take pleasure in what he has given to us here and now, and know that there is even better waiting for us in heaven. Our identity rests in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which completes the yearning of our souls.
Lord God, thank you for fearfully and wonderfully making us to be in communion with you. Help us to surrender and centre our identity on Christ alone, in whom we find the peace our souls long for. Thank you for all the beauty that surrounds us here on this earth, and we look forward to heaven, where we will be with you. Amen.
Sue Smith recently retired from the oil industry and lives with her husband, Peter, in Port Macquarie NSW. She enjoys knitting, the gym and ocean swimming. She serves in her local St Peters congregation and on the LCANZ’s Commission on Social and Bioethical Questions (CSBQ).
Treasure: the value of wisdom
by Sue Smith
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
If you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures – then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God (Proverbs 2:4,5).
Read Proverbs 2:1–15
We continue the theme of treasure. There are a lot of action words in this passage – on our part and on God’s part: treasure is used as a verb. To search for treasure, and treasure what we gain!
There is much treasure in wisdom and knowledge. The Lord freely gives wisdom – more so if we cry out for insight and seek it. Then we will gain the understanding of what is right, just and fair!
The Lord promises to shield and guard us as we travel our life’s path and prevent us from going down the wrong paths – that lead to a dead end.
This wisdom will come into our hearts, and knowledge will be pleasant to our souls (verse 10). God’s wisdom will be there through the Holy Spirit to guide you and give you peace.
Forget the treasure in pirate movies – go for God’s gold standard of wisdom and knowledge. It may sometimes be hidden and not so obvious, but it is entirely worth the effort.
Lord God, thank you for lavishing all your gifts upon us, especially wisdom and knowledge. Help us to see and do what is right in your eyes. Continue to shield us in our everyday walk. Amen.
Sue Smith recently retired from the oil industry and lives with her husband, Peter, in Port Macquarie NSW. She enjoys knitting, the gym and ocean swimming. She serves in her local St Peters congregation and on the LCANZ’s Commission on Social and Bioethical Questions (CSBQ).
What is the treasure?
by Sue Smith
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and reburied; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field (Matthew 13:44).
Read Matthew 13:31–33,44–52
The kingdom of heaven is mentioned six times in today’s passage. You know when God wants to get a message across; he puts it on repeat. Jesus also shares the message in a series of parables. Parables are relatable stories drawn from everyday life. They are usually short, succinct and easy to remember. But Jesus uses them to challenge and invite reflection on multiple levels. In the parables, Jesus asks us not just to dip our toes in the water but also to wade in and enter the ocean of deeper meaning … which has no boundaries. ‘Have you understood all this?’ Jesus asks in verse 51.
I’ve often read these parables and thought I understood them – at least on the surface. They appear in great concentration and then are over in no time. So, the ‘treasure hidden in a field’ … is it Jesus? Do we believers need to do the work of finding Jesus as our treasure and then securing the field so that this treasure is not lost? Would we sell everything to obtain the field? Could we be relied upon to do this? By our human nature, we have put ourselves at the centre of this parable. But what happens if we turn it around?
The kingdom of heaven is the treasure here. What if the man is actually Jesus, who has found the kingdom of heaven – the kingdom being of the body of believers? Jesus has found his treasure in us, the church – his bride. In full joy, he then takes all the required steps to secure the treasure – by burying it and selling all he owns to return and buy it as his own. This is what Jesus did in making the ultimate sacrifice of dying to redeem us as his own.
That’s a very different understanding of this parable from what most of us are used to: it turns it on its head! We are the treasure so valued by God that he would send Jesus to restore us to himself. Imagine that!
Lord God, we praise you for your all-encompassing love for us and for how you seek us out as your treasure to redeem. Help us to know your saving love in every aspect of our lives and that through the Holy Spirit, we might experience and pass on the joy that comes with being in union with you. Amen.
Sue Smith recently retired from the oil industry and lives with her husband, Peter, in Port Macquarie NSW. She enjoys knitting, the gym and ocean swimming. She serves in her local St Peters congregation and on the LCANZ’s Commission on Social and Bioethical Questions (CSBQ).