Hope that doesn't Disappoint

‘The Son of Man’ he said ‘is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.’
Lk.9:22

Jesus prophesies his passion and death followed by his crowning glory, his being raised up on the third day.

The predicted suffering and death of Jesus grieved the disciples much. They may have missed the puzzling appendix, "I will be raised up on the third day." The same happens to me when confronted with suffering and death. The promise of resurrection can be lost in grief.

If our faith has anything to say about anything, it has something to say about death. Like, "Where is your victory, where is your sting?" The ultimate enemy, death, has been vanquished by the ultimate victory, resurrection. Here is the source of hope that doesn't disappoint. 

Saints Cosmas and Damian, please pray for me.

Seek Him

Herod said, ‘John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?’ And he sought to see him.
Lk.9:9

Herod found Jesus hard to ignore. Love him or hate him, you just can't get rid of him.

I recall the moment I first started being curious about Jesus. My wife and I were on the last day of a Marriage Encounter weekend. My heart was softened by a renewed love for my wife. A priest on the presenting team made a passing comment. "The love you are experiencing is mere a fraction of the love that Jesus has for you." 

That impacted me, a non-believer at the time. I remember thinking, "He's either telling a fat porkie, or I need to find out more about this man/God called Jesus". Four years later I was banging on the door of the Church shouting, "Let me in. I want to eat Jesus!"

This desire for intimacy with Jesus is insatiable. The more I know him the more I want to know him more. And, he wants me to know him more as well. 

Draw me closer dear Lord, that I may touch you.

Cast-out Cure and Proclaim

Jesus called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.
Lk.9:1,2

Jesus commissions the twelve apostles for their first mission trip. He does this by giving them power and authority. 

The Church Militant is given its founding mandate. Cast out demons, cure diseases and proclaim the Good News. This is what the Church was created to do. Are we doing it? 

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. Kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.

The Light of the World

No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.
Lk.8:16

Jesus called himself the Light of the World. Receiving him brings a responsibility to share his light. 

I recall with gratitude the people who shone the light of Christ into my life. A Presbyterian minister who came weekly to my primary school class. My mother in law. My wife and even, unintentionally, my children. The faithful souls in my parish. The list goes on...

Many of these light-bearers do so unwittingly. There is simply a light about them that radiates. 

It's a bit like the radiating face of Moses after he had spent time with God in the Tent of Meeting. And there is the key to being a light-bearer. Spending time with God. 

Jesus, you are the light of my life. Help me make you the Light of the World in my world today.

The Good Dirt

As for the part in the rich soil, this is people with a noble and generous heart who have heard the word and take it to themselves and yield a harvest through their perseverance.
Lk.8:15

Jesus describes who the good soil in his parable of the sower represents. People of noble and generous hearts.

NOBLE:         Showing fine personal qualities and high moral principles.
GENEROUS:   A readiness to give more than is necessary or expected.
HEART:         Innermost part of something.

Jesus could be describing himself here. But he's not. He's describing the man he is calling me to be. 

My wife doesn't like it when I describe myself as a reformed dirt bag. "Power of words Mike", she says. Perhaps the moniker becomes palatable in the light of this calling from Jesus for me to become "good dirt", a man of noble and generous heart.

Jesus, you know the rocks and weeds in my life. Come root up, pull out and then cultivate.
  

Forgiven Much Love Much

I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven — for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.
Lk.7:47

Jesus points out how to discern the forgiveness one has received. By the amount of love given in return.

I've heard it said the good aren't assured of heaven, only the forgiven are. In my experience, forgiveness involved acknowledging a higher power to grant that forgiveness, a stumbling block to my atheist pride for many years. 

C S Lewis says Jesus forgiving sins committed against other people without consulting those who were directly harmed only makes sense if Jesus is God, the one ultimately offended by all sin.

Yes, restitution to the wronged needs to be made where possible, but in the end it's Jesus who I've offended and it's Jesus from whom I need forgiveness. Hence my great love for him. 

Jesus, you have forgiven me much. Lord, you know how much I love you.
Saint Mary Magdalene, please pray for me

A Friend of Sinners

The Son of Man comes, eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.”
Lk.7:34

The critics of Jesus are correct in their observation even if not in their judgement. Jesus was fully human and a friend to all.

This is part of what attracts me to Jesus. Yes, I love him as God but I also love him as man. He is relatable, as every good friend should be. I feel safe with him. He knows all my dirt but he still not only loves me, he likes me. 

I'm called to be that sort of friend. Someone I haven't seen in years has reached out to me, suggesting we meet for a coffee and a chat. We're meeting this morning at a local cafe. I sense Jesus will be with us also.

Jesus, thank you for your friendship. Help me be a friend to others.

The Source of Power

We are only the earthenware jars that hold this treasure, to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us. 
2Cor.4:7

The great treasure of our faith in Jesus can be contained in the most ordinary looking people. In fact, the more ordinary the better as it shows where the power comes from. God, not us.

Pride can strike anywhere, even in ministry. My work in the Church has led to more occasions of leadership, of being the tall poppy. There is a temptation to pat myself on the back. I look at Saint Paul, a great leader in the early Church. As he rose in prominence he grew in humility. In his final letters he called himself the greatest of all sinners. 

This seems a common characteristic among the saints. The closer they get to Christ, the more aware they are of their brokenness and need of him. Truly, I'm just a stumbling follower. 

Jesus, may I become lesser as you become greater in my life, proving the power comes from you.

God Wants Everyone

He wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth.
1Tim.2:4

Saint Paul gives the reason why we are called to intercede by prayer for all people. God wants all people to be saved.

God's love and mercy isn't for just a chosen select few. He wants all people drawn back home to him. I live next to a school where hundreds of pupils are just now being dropped off by parents and family. Among them I'm sure are the good, the bad and the ugly but God makes no such distinction. He wants them all.

 This defines my mission field. Every person I encounter today is desired by God to be embraced and drawn back to him. 

Lord, help me be an effective missionary for you today.
Saint Paul, please pray for me.

Think then Speak

A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.
Lk.6:45

Jesus gives advice on how to discern a man's character. Look at  his fruit.

To see what a man is really like in his heart I only need to listen to him. More importantly, what is really in my heart is revealed to all by my words. 

Mental note to self: Think before I speak.

Lord, place a guard at my mouth and a sentry on my lips.

Love

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Lk.6:27,28

Jesus starts his Sermon on the Mount with a radical new message. Love without counting the cost. 

Before I was Christian, if I was asked what is one thing I knew about Christian doctrine it would be "love your enemies". I would dismiss it as pie in the sky dreaming, but secretly I wished it was true. 

Love isn't for sissies. Now I'm Christian it's the constant stretch, calling me to holiness. It is what makes being Christian both challenging and fulfilling. When I can manage it, I love being loving. 

I have family members who aren't Christian and yet are very hospitable and loving. I would say they are Christ-like on those occasions. I guess where the difference lies is in Jesus' call to love our enemies, the unrepentant, the abusers. I can only do that with the help of Jesus. 

Jesus, loving is easy when it's easy but hard when it's hard. Help me love in the hard times so I can more like you.

Saint Sebastian, please pray for me.

 

Blessedness

Jesus lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 
Lk.6:20

Jesus starts his great sermon on the mount with a clear proclamation of his shockingly counter cultural view of the world. Blessed are the poor...

This cuts to the core of my Christian belief. True blessing comes not from my circumstances but from His presence with me. It's the secret to happiness those with little seem to grasp more quickly than the affluent. 

The danger from my affluence, relative though it may be, is that it seduces me into believing it is the necessary source of happiness. It isn't. God's presence with me is the source of my blessedness. 

Jesus, I am grateful for the physical comforts I experience today. Help me remember that while they are blessings they are not the source of my blessedness. You are.

Honour and Mercy

Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally.
Mt.1:19

While the Church rightly honours Mary's birthday, I'm drawn to Joseph her husband. Little is written of Joseph but much can be surmised from the woman he betrothed and the boy he raised.

While Matthew writes that Joseph was "a man of honour" he also records he was a man of mercy, wanting to spare Mary as much fallout from her "unplanned pregnancy" as he could. 

Honour and mercy, two great virtues that temper each other. Joseph was not only a law abiding, honourable Jew but a merciful man. His honour defined the landscape in which his mercy worked. His power and strength from honour was controlled and constrained by his mercy. This is meekness, a manly character reminding me of a great warhorse submitting to restraint from its rider.

Today I can be a man of honour and mercy. Mary, Jesus and Joseph, please pray for me.

Holy Pure Blameless

Not long ago, you were foreigners and enemies, in the way that you used to think and the evil things that you did; but now he has reconciled you, by his death and in that mortal body. Now you are able to appear before him holy, pure and blameless.
Col.1:21,22

From an evil doer to one who is holy, pure and blameless. What a transformation!

It's good to remember where I've come from. It highlights the great benefits of where I am now, reminding me of the enormous grace, mercy and love that has been lavished on me by God. In short, it makes me grateful.

Thank you Jesus. You are my way, my truth and my life. 

Listen to Him

‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear.
Lk.5:5,6

Jesus convinces an exhausted and failed fisherman to one more effort. The result, the catch of a lifetime.

"But if you say so." I can see the shrug of Peter's shoulders. He is spent from following his own plans. Now, under the direction of Jesus... boom! Peter is never recorded catching fish except when under Jesus' instruction. 

Like many, I find the human weakness of Peter relatable. He's stubborn and intractable even when results are screaming for a change of direction. Yep, been there done that, especially in the ministry of "catching fish".

The trick, as Peter shows, is to finally do what Jesus suggests. Even a halfhearted "If you say so" is enough for Jesus to work with. The results can be staggering. 

Jesus, I'm so busy writing my own playbook that I don't have time to read yours. Lord, I put down my pen. Tell me where to cast the net. 

My Cheerleader

God never meant us to experience the Retribution, but to win salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that, alive or dead, we should still live united to him.
1Thes.5:9,10

God doesn't want me to be a loser. He wants me to be a winner!

My mother was one of those parent, and grandparent, supporters who was a loud, vociferous sideline supporter of competing children and grandchildren. Diminutive to look at, she commanded the bleachers once her cheering arose. And she would use our names in her shout-outs, much to our embarrassment. She never rained on a parade. She was a true cheerleader and I now fondly remember her loud, unwavering support and encouragement. 

I'm reminded of mum in this exhortation from Saint Paul. God is my cheerleader, shouting out my name. "Come on Michael! You can do it!" He sees me as a winner. 

Thank you Father that you believe in me, even when I'm unbelievable. 
Mum, thank you for your unflinching love. I know you are praying for me and cheering me on.

Good News!

Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me,
for he has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives
and to the blind new sight,
to set the downtrodden free,
to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.

Lk.4:17-19

Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah to outline his gameplan. As a follower, it's my gameplan as well. I am anointed to bring good news, liberty, sight, freedom and proclamation. 

Good news folks! In the name of Jesus you are free, you can see clearly, your shackles are broken, you are lifted up and you are alive under the blessing and favour of God almighty. 

Now, who wants to cancel me, dismiss me, throw me over a cliff? The good news is good news and it can't be stopped.

Come Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of your faithful. Kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.