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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.
Greater or lesser
by Dianne Eckermann
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
He must become greater; I must become less (John 3:30).
Read John 3:25–36
If you ever need to look up advice on introducing a guest speaker, one of the first points emphasises that it’s not about you – it’s about the person you are introducing. This is something John the Baptist certainly understood. It’s not necessarily something that comes easily to people. In fact, the envious reactions of John’s followers towards Jesus, who was attracting large crowds of people to be baptised, are a more human response.
We may not all be as confident or as comfortable about who we are as John. He has confidence in his role as the person sent ahead of the Messiah. He is comfortable with the idea that, in this role, he will become lesser, while the Messiah, Jesus, will become greater.
This is not as easy as John makes it look. Unlike his followers, John is not envious of Jesus because he knows it is not about him; it is about the one who is coming after him, that is, Jesus.
John lives truly for God’s glory. He shows tremendous humility by stepping aside to allow Jesus to become great. At the same time, he also shows tremendous confidence and joy in preparing the way for Jesus, knowing that this is his role.
Instead of accusing his followers of envy, John reminds them he has always said he was the one sent ahead of the Messiah, the one who is greater than all. John’s example is one we can follow by confidently understanding our role and knowing when to graciously allow others to fulfil their roles.
Lord, give us the certainty of knowing who we are and how we live for your glory. Guide our footsteps as we follow you and grow in our understanding of your great sacrifice for all people. Amen.
Dianne has served in Lutheran education as a teacher, school leader and system leader at Lutheran Education Australia. Now retired from full-time work, she continues to volunteer on several committees and as a school board member. She lives in the Adelaide Hills with her husband, Robert, and is in strong demand as a babysitter for her three grandchildren.
Gotta serve somebody
by Dianne Eckermann
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15b).
Read Joshua 24:1,2a,14–18
In the late 1970s, Bob Dylan wrote a folk song titled ‘Gotta serve somebody’, to which John Lennon cynically responded with a song called ‘Serve yourself’.
Dylan lists all sorts of people: an ambassador, a gambler, a dancer, a boxer, a socialite. No matter who you were, he says, you gotta serve somebody. Dylan offers a simple choice to either serve the devil or the Lord. He also subtly suggests we need to take care who we choose to serve; will it be somebody or something? If we don’t choose well, we may end up serving money, fame, power or influence.
John Lennon, on the other hand, comments that no one is going to do it for you, so you have to serve yourself. These two songs come from opposing points of view and have different understandings of what it means to serve.
Like today’s reading from Joshua, Dylan uses service in a broad sense. In the reading from Joshua, the children of Israel are reminded how God has taken them from a distant land where their ancestors served other gods and has given them a new land. This reminder, Joshua suggests, is the very reason he will serve the Lord. His concept of service includes following the Lord, trusting in the Lord and serving out of gratitude.
John Lennon’s idea of service is all about self. It is appealing in a culture in which the individual is more important than the community, but it’s not really about service; it’s about getting what you want for yourself.
Joshua’s words, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord’, are about commitment. This passage is often used as a wedding text as a new couple commit themselves to each other and to the Lord as a new household.
In Joshua’s time, God has freed Israel from forced service to the Pharaoh. In response, Joshua is committing to the Lord, willing to lead his life trusting that God, who provided a new land, will continue to provide for those who serve him.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of family. Help us to remain committed to you as we serve you by following your wishes and honouring you for all you have provided for us. Amen.
Dianne has served in Lutheran education as a teacher, school leader and system leader at Lutheran Education Australia. Now retired from full-time work, she continues to volunteer on several committees and as a school board member. She lives in the Adelaide Hills with her husband, Robert, and is in strong demand as a babysitter for her three grandchildren.
Who is the Son of Man?
by Dianne Eckermann
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets’ (Matthew 16:13b,14).
Read Matthew 16:13–20
The location of today’s reading, Caesarea Philippi, a city named in part in honour of Caesar Augustus, who was deified by his subjects, may highlight how humans like to be glorified in contrast to Jesus’ humility.
Unlike Caesar, Jesus did not proclaim his own divinity. Instead, he asked, ‘Who do people say I am?’ This is the first of two questions Jesus asks of his disciples. In effect, he is using them as his social media advisors to discover what is being said about him in this city founded on a Greek site dedicated to Pan and named after the Roman emperor. In their travels with Jesus, the disciples have heard speculation about him: references to John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or other prophets. They recognise something unique about Jesus.
Here, in this culturally mixed city, with an equally diverse range of religious beliefs, Jesus asks his second question: ‘Who do you say I am?’ Peter’s response is immediate. He sees the Messiah, Jesus, in what Jesus has said and done. He has heard the speculation but boldly declares, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’
With more than two thousand years of Christian understanding, we may feel that Peter is stating the obvious. However, Peter is at the very beginning of this tradition. He is a Jewish man living under Roman oppression, but despite this, he knows what he has seen and heard. He is yet to discover what it means to be the Messiah. Peter has not yet experienced the death and resurrection of Jesus, but has closely observed Jesus, his teachings and his miracles, and knows Jesus well. Peter knows Jesus because he has seen his power at work in the world.
As modern-day followers of Jesus, we understand his work because we know who he is. In a precarious and unpredictable world where warfare, disruption and division emerge almost daily, we may wonder where Jesus is at work. He is there with the peacemakers, with those who support others most in need of comfort, following in his footsteps. Knowing who Jesus is, we can joyfully join Peter and proclaim Jesus as the Son of the living God.
Dear Jesus, help us to follow in your footsteps and recognise you in our lives. Guide us as we support those most in need of your comfort and care, and help us always to know you through your work in our world. Amen.
Dianne has served in Lutheran education as a teacher, school leader and system leader at Lutheran Education Australia. Now retired from full-time work, she continues to volunteer on several committees and as a school board member. She lives in the Adelaide Hills with her husband, Robert, and is in strong demand as a babysitter for her three grandchildren.