Do You Feel Like A Member Of The Family?
Good Morning Friends,
Today’s scripture selection is the lectionary listing for tomorrow. I thought I would give you a head start on some of the sermons ideas you might hear from those preachers that follow the lectionary. I imagine that most of them will preach about the Holy Spirit being given to all of us who love Jesus Christ, and how the Holy Spirit as a person empowers us for the Lord’s work, to teach us all things, and to give us a real and lasting peace in the knowledge that Jesus has overcome the world. The nature of the Holy Spirit is perhaps the most difficult of the Trinity to relate to our lives. Then the light bulb might just go on. We Are not orphaned by God. We have the Holy Spirit working though us. Do You Feel Like A Member Of The Family?
Scripture: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”
John 14:15-21 (NRSV)
Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did, for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralyzed or lame were cured. So there was great joy in that city .Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Acts 8:5-8, 14-17 (NRSV)
but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,
1 Peter 3:15-18 (NRSV)
Message: Today we explore something that eventually takes us all in, the problem of when death takes someone we love…. when we have lost that which we love. Today we hold these truths before us as we explore how to live victoriously even when we face loss. Jesus preached about those things which had been lost: the lost coin, the lost sheep, the lost son…even his lost country and in today’s scripture we follow up on this theme that includes a response from God. Jesus says that He is not going to leave us orphaned. Jesus made it clear that He was willing to sacrifice his very life to make it a reality. Friends, sooner or later we all experience sorrow and sometimes it is a collective sorrow. To prepare for it we need the message of Jesus Christ. Here we learn that sorrow is the price we pay for love. Here we learn that we need to accept sorrow when it comes. Cursing God and hoping to die in our sorrow serves no purpose. We must learn to accept the inevitable. It is crazy to rebel against things we cannot do anything about. You have heard it said and I will say it again, that we need the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, and the courage to change the things we can. Moreover, we need the wisdom to know the difference. And friends, know this: there is wisdom in learning that there may be sin in whining but that there is no sin in weeping. Friends, Jesus wept. We too need to accept sorrow when it comes, but we also need to receive comfort when it comes as well. Jesus realized that scripture never comes back void. Jesus realized our need for the Word made flesh to be in us so we might be filled it with the gift of the Holy Spirit. Here the void is filled with the wonderful assurance that in Christ there is no death. Here to be absent in the body is to be present in the Lord. Even as we mourn that which has been lost we can experience the joy of something even greater.
Pray that our sorrow be turned into joy. Pray that when we turn to Jesus we receive fresh and strong comfort. Pray we fill our lives with memories of gratitude not sorrow. Pray we fill our voids with wonderful activities. Pray that when we face sorrow that we expect it, accept it and project it with wonderful assurance and memories and activities that turn sorrow into joy. Pray that when we are outgunned and out manned that we move beyond what has been lost to discover what might be found. Pray we commit ourselves to a revolutionary ministry of reconciliation as we share and help those who experience sorrow to discover the truth that Jesus spoke of…the truth that sets us free.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 