Day 10 - Altaring the ego

Reading: John 5:31-47

Have you ever thought to yourself, “If only I lived when Jesus was walking this earth. I wouldn’t have any doubts at all if I could see his miracles and hear his teaching!”

The reality, however, is that many who saw and heard him in the first century did not believe him. For that reason  Jesus appealed to the practice laid down by Moses (Deuteronomy 19:15) of calling forwards “two or three witnesses” to support his claims about himself, as a person’s testimony about himself was not admissible in a court of law (John 5:31). In Jewish law courts a lot of significance was placed on the reliability of the witnesses. If they were trustworthy and dependable, then their witness carried a lot of weight.

Jesus asserts that a number of witnesses testify on his behalf: John the Baptist (5:33), the works that Jesus was doing (5:36) and God the Father himself (5:37). These three, he was saying, are all reliable witnesses, and therefore accepting Jesus’ claims should be a simple matter.

But it wasn’t, was it? Many of those who heard him and saw his miracles did not believe. How could that be?

Jesus explains the reason: “How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” (5:44)

Pride, it seems, is the great barrier to belief. Pride twists how we view things, contorting the truth to make it fit with what we want to believe: that we are gods, worthy of praise and admiration. And if we believe we are gods, then there is no room for faith in Christ as God, is there? As the Scottish preacher James Denny once put it, “No man can bear witness to Christ and to himself at the same time. No man can give the impression that he is clever and that Christ is mighty to save.”

Response

Lord, my pride gets in the way of trusting you and of believing what you might do, even today. You are God, I am not. Help me to live in the reality of that today.

Roger 

Day 9 - Missing the point (2)

Reading: John 5:1-30

There are things in life I find rather pointless: why are buildings peppered with signs saying, “It is against the law to smoke on these premises” when there are no equivalent signs for stealing or killing (both equally against the law)? And ‘reality’ TV – a misnomer if ever there was one – what’s the point? Thankfully there are things in life with real purpose and benefit – like me I’m sure you’d rate football as one of those…

In our passage today Jesus heals a disabled man and the religious leaders present completely miss the point. A man condemned to a wretched existence suddenly has a whole new life to live but the religious leaders don’t care about that, they have a different agenda.

When Jesus heals this man he tells him to pick up his mat and walk, knowing full well the religious police will spot him doing this on a Sabbath. The healed man obeys and sure enough the religious leaders notice him so he tells them, “The man who made me well said to me ‘pick up your mat and walk.’” And they ask him who told him to pick up his mat and walk…

No, no, no – man-made laws about the Sabbath are not the issue. Somebody who had endured disability for decades has been healed. Completely. Totally. It’s time for a party, not for persecution. Yet they go after Jesus because he healed a man on the Sabbath. So Jesus makes quite a lengthy case for the defence, saying the Son of God was among them, seeking to please his Father by doing God’s work in ways people could experience for themselves – if they chose to.

I wonder if there are times when we too miss the point in our church culture. What do we expect when we come to church? The same seat, the same people, the same songs? Or do we expect to encounter the living God, knowing he loves us and conscious of what it cost Jesus to bring us life and the freedom to enter God’s presence?

Response

“The Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Chris 

Day 8 - Believing is not about seeing

Reading: John 4:43-54

At the opening of this passage Jesus compares his reception in Samaria with the reception he receives from his own people. The Samaritans welcomed him for who he was whilst the Jews were more impressed by his deeds in Jerusalem (see John 2:23). Jesus refers to this contrast when he comments in verse 48 on their lack of real faith.  Perhaps the government official was also only relying on Jesus as a result of reports from Jerusalem. However, when Jesus speaks directly to him his faith (trust) is instant and is later confirmed when he meets his servants and they report the healing of his son.

Our faith should be based on who Jesus is rather than what we expect him to do for us. Many of us will never directly experience a miracle but that should not affect the trust we place in him.  Whenever we travel in someone else’s car we place our trust in their driving skills.  Thankfully, most journeys are uneventful and routine but, in the event of any emergency, we must continue to trust the driver. He is in control from start to finish. So it is with our faith in Jesus. Once we have started out with him we need only remind ourselves of who he is rather than allowing our immediate circumstances to rule our hearts. It is said that, if six different people view an accident, you will have six different accounts of what happened. Our faith should not depend on what we see but on the person who inspires our trust. In John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

Response

Dear Father, refresh my faith. You are my Lord and I trust you for whatever lies ahead. Be my shelter and my guide in the days to come.

Peter

Day 7 - You reap what you sow

Reading: John 4:27-42

About 25 years ago I met a lady in the street. She was drunk and vulnerable. I played no significant role in her life other than to spend a few hours with her and try to explain something of who Jesus was.  I never saw her again and have no idea what happened to her, but I prayed that day that in her confusion and despair God would nurture a seed…

Today’s passage gives the conclusion to Jesus extraordinary meeting with the Samaritan woman, and some clear teaching for the disciples on what it means to have a “harvest mindset”.

Jesus’ personal insight, and a clear explanation of who he was, led this woman to hastily return to her town to witness about him.  In the explanation by this marginalised woman, her community saw enough to listen and “Come see a man…” who they later acknowledged as “saviour of the world”.

Meanwhile back at the well… the disciples are still concentrating on their food-finding mission (verse 8).  But Jesus turns the situation to teach them of his true mission, and their own commissioning.  As the Samaritan townspeople are listening to the woman, Jesus is telling the disciples that the harvest is now. The disciples weren’t even present as Jesus sowed his message of hope to the Samaritan woman, but they were about to be involved in a big reaping. 

As followers we are to be involved in both sowing and reaping. Sometimes the sowing is lifelong and we don’t see any evidence of reaping, and sometimes we reap without any understanding of the sowing that has gone before, but we are called and commissioned to both. 

Response

Thank you Father, that you graciously allow us to partner in your work, and equip us in it.  Give us perseverance in sowing and urgency in reaping.

Victoria

Day 6 - Would you like a drink?

Reading: John 4:1-26

How are you at striking up conversations with people? How comfortable are you sharing matters of faith? There’s no doubt it comes easier to some than others, but we are all called to give it our best shot (Matthew 28:18-20) Here, Jesus makes evangelism personal, relevant and natural.

Jesus asks a Samaritan woman for a drink and chooses to ignore the prejudices of the day – that women shouldn’t be spoken to in public; that Samaritans were unclean and to be treated with suspicion (remember how the expert in the law couldn’t bring himself to even say the “S” word in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37)).

Jesus doesn’t judge the woman. He sees one of his Father’s children who needs help. She is a sinner, as we all are, who has had 5 husbands and who currently lives with a man who is not her husband. She also needs to know more of Jesus, as we all do, and the living water that he offers. This living water is the Holy Spirit and eternal life, the Holy Spirit that when accepted and embraced enables us to “worship in spirit and truth”. Without him we will worship in the wrong places (on the mountain or in Jerusalem) and in the wrong ways (in church on Sundays rather than with our whole lives). As Jesus says, “God is spirit, and the worshippers must worship in spirit and truth.” They are the kind of worshippers we must strive to be and we need the Holy Spirit’s help to do that.

Response

Ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit today, embrace him and, in his power, reach out to someone with a kindness.

Tom

Food for Thought & More ...

There is no reading today - unless you are catching up that is! But in case you are at risk of missing the regular e-mail, here are some things to look forward to.

This Sunday we have the first of our Sunday messages. Ian will be speaking on Sunday morning from John 1:43-51, where Jesus finds Philip, Philip finds Nathanael, and then Jesus finds Nathanael. And then on Sunday night Roger will be speaking from John 1:14 about the One full of truth.

Also on Sunday morning Andy and Victoria will be introducing 'Food for Thought' - a three course menu for having a family conversation about an account from John - in this instance from the John 1:43-51 passage.

If you have not joined in with the readings yet, there's still time! You can download the book for free from Smashwords (134 downloads to date!).

There have been some great thoughts here on the Blog and also on Twitter, and it's been good to hear about conversations and sharing in small groups to. Keep them coming!

Day 5 - More of you, less of me

Reading: John 3:22-36

Have you ever had the experience of investing huge amounts of effort into a role or project, only to find that someone else has come along and ‘taken all the glory’, is better, more successful or popular than you? 

Feeling a lack of appreciation, to be outshone by another’s abilities or inadequate to complete a task are common human experiences and John the Baptist had reason to feel all these things and more.  He had devoted his life to deliver a message of repentance, he had put aside a settled, comfortable existence, to live out his calling, and people had responded to his message.  But now, they were turning away from him to another voice. All that effort, passion and sacrifice and no-one to listen.

Yet John’s response is extraordinary. Instead of jumping to the defensive, or attempting to extinguish the competition, or giving in to discouragement, he submits in humility and generosity of spirit.  He is content to slip off into the sidelines, to allow Jesus to take centre stage. John knows that all he has achieved has been due to God, not his own abilities. He has a healthy sense of his self before God, a deep understanding of the person of Jesus and the unfailing resource of the Holy Spirit. This realisation releases John into joy, allows him to take pleasure in his God-given role and enables him to powerfully prophesy. God uses John strategically to prepare the way for Jesus. John is the warm-up act and someone who is ready and willing to play his part.

For me, this is a reminder that all that I have at work, home and church is given from God. I have no excuse to hang back through feelings of inadequacy or lack of recognition. I serve in order to give Jesus centre stage.  The same is true for each of us, as we serve and play our part in God’s amazing plan.

Response

Father, in all that I think, feel and do this week, may there be more of you and less of me. Amen.

Louise