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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.
Light to Guide 1st Monday in Advent Light to Guide 1st Monday in Advent Read: Exodus 13:21-22
“By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light,” Exodus 13:21a (NIV) Fireflies are incredible little insects. I first came across them while camping one summer with my family in Pennsylvania. The little firefly causes a light to glow in its body through a chemical reaction called bioluminescence, which is primarily used to attract the male of the species. Our children had fun catching them in their hands and seeing the glow that shone through their fingers. It was a small bright light that then lit up the darkness and they ran around chasing and following these tiny lights. The people of Israel had left slavery in Egypt and were being led by Moses to the Promised Land.
The people having lived in Egypt knew all the Egyptian gods but didn’t have a personal relationship yet with the true God of Heaven and Earth. To help the people and Moses know that the God of Israel was with them leading and guiding them and never leaving them, God promised to have a pillar of cloud by day for them to see and follow and a pillar of fire by night to light their way in the darkness. It was a visible sign of God’s presence among His people, and it never left them. In Bible pictures we see a huge fire and a huge cloud, but we are not told how big.
But even a small light in the darkness is enough to follow. Even a small light, like a firefly, takes away the darkness and allows us to see and follow! The Bible is filled with the figurative language of Jesus being the ‘light of the world’. It illustrates to us that knowing Jesus and His Father God is to never live in darkness. Knowing Him and His love we are always able to see where we are going.
He lights our way and guides us through our lives – like Moses and the Israelites – God’s presence leads us finally to the Promised Land of Heaven. Follow the guiding light of God through knowing His love in the Bible. Prayer: Lord, you lead me through so many dark places of my life. Light up the way so that I can follow you in all I do. May I always follow your guiding light. Amen.
Let There Be Light 1st Sunday in Advent Read: Genesis 1:1-5
“God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.” Genesis 1:4 (NIV-UK) Watching TV one evening after dinner, suddenly everything went dark – the power went off. What is the first thing we all went to look for? Torches, candles and matches to bring light to the darkness. I don’t mind the darkness when I am sleeping, but when I am awake, I don’t like the dark. There is something scary of not being able to see what is around. The first thing that God created on the first day was light. Everything was dark and it was formless, but God wanted more… so ‘light’ was created and God said that the light was good. Light is necessary for making all of God’s creative works visible and makes life possible.
Even creatures that live in the nighttime adapt to ‘see’ in the dark. Both day and night belong to the Lord. But it is the light that brings life. I found a quote about light from the National Geographic: “Light reveals the world to us. Body and soul crave it. Light sets our biological clocks. It triggers in our brains the sensations of colour. Light feeds us, supplying the energy for plants to grow. It inspires us with special effects like rainbows and sunsets. Light gives us life-changing tools, from incandescent bulbs to lasers and fibre optics. Scientists don’t fully understand what light is or what it can do.
They just know it will illuminate our future.” But within the darkness before light, we read that already God’s Spirit was ‘hovering’, ready for action as soon as God spoke the words. When you feel that you are in the dark physically or figuratively, know that God’s Spirit is there ‘hovering’ to care for you and lead you into the light. Before light was created everything was a void; dark and deep.
Then in Revelation 21:1, 25, in the end times, God tells us there will be no more darkness and no more deepness – God will illuminate everything. This Advent season remember that God is there bringing you His light and order into your life. God is at work in your life… and sometimes you get to see it! Prayer: My Heavenly Father, all you had to do was speak the words to bring life and light into the world. Light my life this Advent season to see you at work in and through me. Use me to bring light to others.
Amen
The house of the Lord
by Peter Bean
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
I was glad when they said to me: ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’ (Psalm 122:1).
Read Psalm 122
The last day of the church year. A good day to go to the house of the Lord. But where will you go? What do you understand by the house of the Lord?
You might immediately think of a church, referring to the physical building. But most aren’t open on Saturdays. And is that what is really meant? This psalm is very much a ‘local’ psalm, praising Jerusalem and all that it involves. But when we read and hear Jesus, we remember he said, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up’ (John 2:19). He relocated the house of the Lord to his own self, his own body (John 2:21).
And Paul said, ‘Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit’ (1 Corinthians 6:19a), echoing Jesus’ words, ‘I will be with you always’ (Matthew 28:20b). This suggests perhaps that the house of the Lord is now contained within each one of us! ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me’ (Galatians 2:20a).
So, perhaps, today, you don’t need to go to the house of the Lord, but you are carrying the house of the Lord around with you. When you go shopping, do some gardening, watch the children’s sports, go for a walk along the beach or in a park or ring a friend, the house of the Lord is present. The Spirit of the Lord is alive within you. What difference will that make to your shopping, gardening, cheering, walking or listening?
Perhaps, then, we can all see what is best (verse nine) for the house of the Lord and all who have the Spirit of God living in them.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you have changed history. Thank you for being willing to dwell in me through your Holy Spirit. May I bring honour and glory to your house every day. Amen.
Despite the cold spring in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills, it is mulberry-picking time, which means mulberry jam, pies and mulberries every way you can imagine. Peter prays that you enjoy whatever God offers you each day. Having now paraphrased Psalms 1–100, Peter invites you to read them anew, applying them to your lives. If you would like his paraphrase of any of these psalms, send your request to pbean087@gmail.com