Photo by...Photo by Rémi Walle on Unsplash
Paul’s in prison when he writes to Timothy, his young friend and co-worker. Acts 28 tells us Paul was in Rome at the time, under house-arrest guarded by a soldier. It wasn’t two weeks of quarantine in a hotel to wait for any signs of a virus but two years under house arrest.
During this time and close to the end of his life, Paul writes and describes some disappointment in those he considered friends.
16 When I was first put on trial, no one helped me. In fact, everyone deserted me. I hope it won’t be held against them. 17 But the Lord stood beside me. He gave me the strength to tell his full message, so that all Gentiles would hear it. And I was kept safe from hungry lions. 18 The Lord will always keep me from being harmed by evil, and he will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. Praise him forever and ever! Amen. 2 Timothy 4:16-18
I’ve highlighted the beautiful words of good news for Paul and for us. Jesus stood beside him.
Jesus’ disciples had a very interesting experience of the Lord standing beside them on the first Easter day. Jesus surprised them. Jesus came to bring peace and comfort to them in their fear.
But Thomas was missing and when they told him he wouldn’t believe it. Perhaps he thought it was too good to be true.
Many a sermon has been preached about Thomas and his doubting - with strong encouragement not to doubt like him. I wonder how many sceptic’s lives have been changed by those sermons.
It hit me this year (maybe it’s the isolation), Thomas isn’t the main character in this story, Jesus is. It’s about Jesus and his unending desire and determination to come alongside and help. He came and stood beside the group of disciples and they got it, he was alive. He came again, just for Thomas, and he got it.. Jesus didn’t want Thomas to be left in the dark of uncertainty. Jesus loved Thomas and wanted him to know the good news of his resurrection.
Jesus comes and stands beside us. He’s not satisfied till he knows that we know he’s alive, and that he loves us and is with us.
This is the good news of Easter!
Walk with him – commune with him
by Tatiana Overduin
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Suddenly their eyes were opened, and they recognised him (Luke 24:31a).
Read Luke 24:13–35
Today’s reading from Luke chapter 24 is a rich covenant text, revealing both the divine and personal relationship between our risen Lord Jesus and us in our everyday walk with him.
What becomes evident here is the contrast between human limitation and God’s divinity. Verses 13 to 15 show that, although the two men are discussing the events of that very day – the drama of Jesus’ resurrection and how it had affected their lives – when Jesus comes alongside them, they do not recognise him. Even as they speak about him, he remains a stranger walking with them.
Isn’t this odd? To them, he was just someone there, and they went on to almost insult him (verse 18 paraphrased): ‘You must be the only one around here that doesn’t know what’s been going on! What’s wrong with you?’ They rebuke him with an air of insolent pride. Oh, how human!
The text describes how, as they recount all that has happened to Jesus, he responds patiently, navigating them back to God’s word. It is God’s story, the story of Jesus himself, foretold through the Old Testament prophets. This is God’s divine plan in action, his promise for us.
Only when Jesus gives of himself in the breaking of the bread (verse 31) do they finally recognise him. He was there with them all along, yet they did not truly understand or see him. Only when they commune with him are their eyes opened.
Can it, at times, be a little like that for us, too? There is a daily temptation to be puffed up with knowledge about Jesus, which can fill us and yet blind us, so that we fail to fully recognise that Jesus is right here, walking alongside us through all the tribulations and joys in our daily walk. Do we acknowledge that he is always with us? Can we – and do we – recognise him, perhaps even in conversation with a ‘stranger’?
I reflect on this text in my own arrogance and lack of faith as I journey through my daily walk with Jesus. There are times when I forget that he is walking with me; times when I search for answers elsewhere instead of relying on God’s promises. I need not fear or worry, but trust him in all things. May the ‘human face’ of the two men on the Emmaus walk be a daily reminder that we also see, trust, honour and obey his divine providence in our lives, as we journey and commune with him. May our eyes and hearts be fully opened to his promises.
Dear Lord Jesus, I can’t see you unless my eyes are opened to you. Dear Holy Spirit, guide me to seek your truth in my daily walk. Dear Father God, lead me to trust in you through your holy word. Amen.
Tatiana is a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Adelaide, where she enjoys singing on the music roster. She is married and has two adult children and six grandchildren. Now retired from full-time secondary education, she pursues her creative interests in fibre arts, taking inspiration from God’s hand evident in the beauty of creation.
Cholesterol hasn’t a chance
by Shane Altmann
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
I will fulfil my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord – in your midst, Jerusalem. Praise the Lord (Psalm 116:18,19).
Read Psalm 116:1–4,12–19
It takes me about 15 minutes to drive to work. Recently, I have been working my way through some random things I used to listen to in the 1980s. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an 80s music nut. I was there 40 years ago – I don’t need to go back and stay there, but there are a few eclectic things I like to revisit.
Like Chess. The musical, not the game.
Smash hits like ‘One Night in Bangkok’ and ‘I Know Him So Well’ are mingled in with some other fun songs and lyrics. I laughed out loud in the car this morning listening to the opening number titled ‘Merano’. The song describes a Tyrolean spa town where the chess world championships were being held at the beginning of the show (Bangkok later on, thus that song).
My favourite classic descriptor of the town of Merano is ‘This is the place where your arteries soften, cholesterol hasn’t a chance.’ People are clever, aren’t they? So funny. What a classic, what a place.
And so is today’s psalm – a classic, I mean. I remember so vividly being a young lad going off to church every Sunday. We always sat near the front (although, where I went to church, that was also not that far from the back, as it was only small), and we sang the liturgy. The pastor would chant the first line, and the congregation would bellow out the reply.
Today’s reading forms a significant part of that memory. If you turn to page 25 of the Lutheran Hymnal (aka the black book) – I happen to have one in my office that apparently belongs to Ascension Lutheran Church Rockingham (sorry) – you will find halfway down the page, the offertory, that prayer you sing when the offerings are being taken forward to the altar. I remember singing that thing so loud:
In the courts of the house of the LOOOOORD,
In your midst, O Jeru-uuu-sa-lem!
What a fervent young Christian I was! But I loved it, particularly because it was part of the service without communion, which was always shorter than the one with communion.
Or maybe because, even then, I knew God was listening. Maybe the psalmist nailed how I felt in the first verse.
I love the Lord, for he heard my voice.
God’s word speaks so beautifully into every part of our lives. It reminds us that he is the source of our joy, the comfort in our suffering, our fortress and our guide, our shepherd and our friend. That he is for us, he hears us, he loves us, and he is active in the world, moving things forward for us. He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. He provides us with green pastures. He is our Tyrolean spa, our mountain air.
Seriously, cholesterol hasn’t a chance.
Lord, what shall we offer to you for all your goodness to us? If it were silver or gold, we would bring it. But we know through your word that the offering you desire is a willing and contrite heart. So, Lord, create in us a pure heart and put a new and right spirit within us. Grow us into lives of service. In Jesus’ name, and for his sake. Amen.
Shane Altmann is the principal of Faith Lutheran College Redlands in Queensland and has served in education for more than 35 years. Married to Monica and father of two children, Harry and Zoe, Shane has learnt that he is largely helpless without the love and support of the people with whom he lives and works. A pilgrim of multiple Caminos de Santiago, a Penrith Panthers tragic and a restorer of old stuff, Shane loves a project and, when he is able, fills his days tinkering with something.
You can’t ask for what you already have
by Shane Altmann
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:11b,12).
Read 1 John 5:4–12
Let’s take a moment for a bit of ‘me time’.
Think of that thing, that object, that highly desirable and unattainable thing that you wish you had. No, not a healthy family or world peace – they are a given. I mean actual stuff.
A huge TV, one of those massive tool chests with drawers full of cool tools, a whole mechanics workshop, a fancy KitchenAid mixer with all the attachments, a new kitchen, a new house, a house on the beach, a bigger boat, a huge boat, one of those boats that you have to leave in the water it’s so big. Your fantasy, you choose.
Now, imagine you turn up at home this afternoon, and there it is. Wrapped up with a fancy bow.
‘What is that?’ you ask. ‘Can I have it?’
‘It’s already yours,’ says the giver.
You can’t ask for what you already have.
When you receive a gift, you have two choices: you can say ‘thank you’, or you can say, ‘Get that mega yacht off my driveway.’
Our focus verse today reminds us, yet again, that God is the author of our faith, the giver of eternal life. It’s always God-work.
God has given us eternal life. God is the architect and builder of our everlasting joy. God is the one who, even now, is preparing a place for us with him in paradise, that heavenly home, with him and together with the saints before us, that blessed reunion. Hallelujah and thank you, Jesus.
And it is that precious treasure, that certain hope of something better, with which we overcome the world. Yep, we can suffer and struggle, times can be difficult, and everything can feel like it is slipping away, but we are more than conquerors through Christ. Our reading today reminds us that our faith, given by God, is that instrument, that victory.
And here’s the heart of it: that’s enough. We don’t need a mega yacht or a fancy toolbox. The Christian life, that simple existence with Jesus, comforted by his word, in fellowship with other believers and the people we love, active in service in the world, called to have a crack and serve as best we can. Well, that’s enough.
Jesus, thank you for coming into the world because of your great love for us. Thank you for living a fully human life. You understand us and know exactly how life feels. We praise you, Lord, that by your Holy Spirit and because of your great redeeming work and precious blood, you call us to yourself. Thank you for giving us eternal life. Bless us as we do our best in this life. In your name, we pray. Amen.