Photo by...Photo by Louise Sacré on Unsplash
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.
God is at work in faithfulness
by Josh Hauser
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed (1 Peter 4:13).
Read 1 Peter 4:12–16
Reading the world news can be overwhelming, can’t it? We see a world that is hurting. War, invasions, persecution and racism invade our news feeds continuously.
1 Peter is a great way to answer where God is in these moments. It was written to Christians living across Asia Minor who were experiencing the same things we are seeing in the world today – persecution, rejection and suffering because of their faith. These believers were a small minority in a wider Roman culture that did not understand or accept their way of life. They faced social exclusion, public criticism and, in some cases, legal trouble.
In verses 12–16, Peter tells believers not to be surprised when they face hardships because of their faith. ‘But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed’ (verse 13). This persecution should be met with joy because we are suffering with Christ. Peter’s message is clear: keep going. Stay faithful because God is faithful to us.
God is at work in faithfulness. God’s faithfulness to us.
This is the promise that runs through all of Scripture. In Deuteronomy, Moses tells Israel: ‘He will not fail you or forsake you.’ In Joshua, God repeats it: ‘I will not fail you or forsake you.’ Isaiah declares: ‘Do not fear, for I am with you.’ Jesus echoes it: ‘I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ And Hebrews reminds the Early Church: ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’
Peter’s readers were suffering. They were isolated. They may have even wondered if God had forgotten them. Maybe you can relate. Maybe you are feeling overwhelmed, forgotten or alone. If that is the case, then remember God is faithful and at work in that. This faithfulness means God’s promises are kept. It means God does not abandon people. It means that when we have nothing left, God is there, still holding us and always present.
God is faithful, God is at work, and God loves you.
Dear God, thank you for your faithfulness; help us to trust that you are with us, especially when we feel alone. Amen.
Josh lives in the western suburbs of Melbourne with his wife, Alice, and their two children. Josh enjoys time with his family, the beach and sports of any kind. Josh works at a school, where he feels it is a privilege to share the gospel with the next generation.
God is at work in the truth
by Josh Hauser
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Then he looked up at his disciples and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God’ (Luke 6:20).
Read Luke 6:20–26
We have all done it, probably when we were kids.
‘Mum, can I have a chocolate?’ you say.
‘No,’ Mum says.
‘Dad, can I have a chocolate?’
The scam is as old as time. When we can’t find the answer we seek, we look elsewhere to get the answer we want.
We call it confirmation bias now. We tend to seek out voices that align with our own. We surround ourselves with people who think as we do. Social media learns what we want to hear and feeds it back to us. It feels good. It feels right. But it is an echo chamber. It makes us feel comfortable and insular, preventing us from hearing truth and growing.
This confirmation bias was around in Jesus’ time – think about the crowds of people that followed Jesus. Some wanted healing. Some wanted a political revolution. Some wanted their assumptions confirmed. People came looking for a messiah who matched their expectations. People wanted a king.
Luke 6 tells us about a time when Jesus came down from the mountain, stood on a level place and was surrounded by a large crowd. Luke tells us that Jesus looked at his disciples and said:
Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you because of the Son of Man.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are full now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
For many in the crowd, this is not the confirmation bias the people would have wanted. Jesus starts verse 27, ‘But I say to you who are listening …’ This suggests that Jesus knew people switched off and that the truth of the situation didn’t match expectations, so they were already not listening. That is what the truth does to us at times – it makes us uncomfortable. If we don’t sit in that discomfort, then we can’t grow.
As Christians, we believe that God is active in the word; God is active in the truth. We believe that we have the ultimate source of truth available to us in God’s word.
Let’s not shy away from truth. Sometimes, we spend so much energy looking for the answers we want to hear. The challenge for today is to stop, listen and let God speak what is true, even if it disrupts what we want to hear. God is working in that uncomfortableness, so we grow into who God desires us to be.
Dear God, help us to listen to your word, trust the truth you speak and rest in the work you are doing through it. Amen.
Josh lives in the western suburbs of Melbourne with his wife, Alice, and their two children. Josh enjoys time with his family, the beach and sports of any kind. Josh works at a school, where he feels it is a privilege to share the gospel with the next generation.
God is at work in the giving
by Josh Hauser
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price (Isaiah 55:1b).
Read Isaiah 55:1–5
Isaiah 55 was written to people who had lost everything. The Jewish exiles in Babylon had watched their city burn, their temple fall, their identity as God’s people called into question. They had been living in a foreign land for decades, wondering if God had abandoned them.
Into that space, the prophet speaks in verse one: ‘Hear, everyone who thirsts; come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.’
As a sentence, it almost doesn’t make sense. Come to this place where you can buy food and eat for free! It’s almost like we are waiting for the catch: ‘Free food … right … and what do we have to do?’
We often carry that same mentality because we spend our time trying to earn things. We try to prove ourselves. We try to show that we are worthy of help, love or attention.
However, Isaiah’s words show us a different picture. God gives to people before anything is proven. God gives to those who arrive empty-handed. God speaks. God invites. God gives. In every act of giving, in every moment of grace, God is at work, meeting the needs of those who come empty-handed.
Martin Luther described how the psalms talk about our life as ‘simul justus et peccator’ – that we are both broken and beloved at the same time. In this truth, God meets people where they are and offers what they need, just as he did for the exiles in Isaiah 55. The ‘waters’ and ‘wine and milk’ would have carried deep meaning for them, gifts of life offered freely by God. People in an arid land, who knew thirst and scarcity, now heard promises of abundance and life. These promises find their fulfilment in Jesus when he proclaims, ‘I am the bread of life’, and ‘Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’
The same God who called the exiles to come and eat now calls us. The same gift. The same open invitation. The same grace given to empty hands.
God is at work in the giving. And the gift is Jesus himself.
Dear God, we thank you for your generosity. Help us to see that you are at work in all the gifts we receive. Help us to show our thanks to you in our thoughts, words and deeds. Thank you for the greatest gift of all, Jesus. Amen.
Josh lives in the western suburbs of Melbourne with his wife, Alice, and their two children. Josh enjoys time with his family, the beach and sports of any kind. Josh works at a school, where he feels it is a privilege to share the gospel with the next generation.