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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.
God’s will for us
by Faye Schmidt
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I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you, and I will take away the stony heart from your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).
Read Ezekiel 36:24–28
(Before reading this devotion, count how many times the words ‘I will’ appear in the text. It appears four times alone in the selected text.)
Ezekiel speaks at a time when God’s people are in exile, seeking to return to their own lands. Before the people return to the land, God will cleanse them by water from their sins and impurities, especially idolatry (Ezekiel 36:25; Exodus 30:17–21). The ritual of cleansing is an external sign of a deeper work that God will perform on the people. The ritual offers an embodied way of experiencing a new reality that God is about to usher in.
God knows very well that we struggle to live a life faithful to him and his will for us. Therefore, God declares, ‘I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you, and I will take away the stony heart from your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh’ (Ezekiel 36:26). The ritual of cleansing by water and the gift of the new identity go hand in hand. All of it, though, is the work of God.
Even if a person has the will to live a life pleasing to God, humans need the Spirit of God to be able to obey. ‘And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and to keep my judgements and to do them’ (Ezekiel 36:27). We are incapable of obedience even after having been purified. We need the power of God’s Spirit to live more fully in our new identity.
All this is possible because God’s will for us was fulfilled when Jesus prayed the night before he died, ‘Not my will, but thy will be done.’ And Jesus was obedient to that will, died and then rose triumphantly to cleanse us from our sins – through Jesus, we come before God ‘clean’.
Dear God, we give thanks, praise and glory to you, as you fulfilled all your promises to us through Jesus, so that we may know that you are our God, and we are your people. Amen.
Faye Schmidt continues her diaconal calling through governance, having served on the Vic–Tas District Church Board, the General Church Board and currently as chair of the Standing Committee on Constitutions and her congregation, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide. Having lived and worked in many locations in Australia and overseas, Faye has a heart for the stranger and the newcomer and for being open to new ideas, learning from others and responding to needs.
‘Grab Hope’ This Easter
As we approach the joy of Easter Sunday, Lutheran Media has been sharing a special message from Pastor Adrian Kitson, inviting our podcast audiences, radio listeners and social media followers to ‘Grab Hope’ — and to share their stories of Easter hope with us.
If a friend or family member might benefit from an invitation to explore the hope that comes to us at Easter, please share our ‘Grab Hope’ message with them!
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My Future Hope Easter Sunday Read: Revelation 21:1-4 “They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:3b-4 (NIV)
Today is Easter Sunday and our Lord Jesus has beaten death and the devil and has been raised to live in Heaven with our Heavenly Father. He is risen indeed! We focus today on all that God has accomplished through Jesus. Through Jesus’ death and rising He has brought us life, and life forever with Him. Revelation is a book of the Bible that is hard to know how to interpret. Many have tried, but we have to be careful not to read into what isn’t there. It is the last book of the Bible, and it was written by John telling of his visions.
This vision of the future is meant to transform the present, by providing hope and motivating Christians to reflect on the character and values that Christ embodied while with us on earth. It shares the vision of what heaven will be like when God is present among us. I love reading about the perfection of Heaven. It won’t be a restored earth, but a totally new reality where there will be no more suffering, all God’s promises will be fulfilled, and we will have a perfect relationship with God (no more sin or separation). This future hope, through the vision of John, provides comfort and encourages all believers to live holy lives here and now in the present. This new creation is divine, not built or created by human hands, but entirely a gift of love from a loving Father.
This salvation is ours for all time. Today we celebrate Jesus’ victory over sin and death, through His rising from the grave. God has through this act of love and grace, given us the same victory over sin and death where we can now come to Him directly as His precious children. Our sins have been forgiven, and we are washed clean. We can now live in the hope of our future with God forever in Heaven. We can live our future hope now in the present, knowing a loving Saviour loves us unconditionally!
Prayer: My risen Lord and Saviour, thank you for giving me a glimpse of Heaven through the visions of John. Guide me through my life that I may reflect the love you have for me to those around me. Amen.