Good Morning Friends,
Today’s lectionary reading sets the stage for the glory of the Lord to be revealed in the birth of the Church Universal. There is suffering and treachery, but also there is prayer in the upper room. And then to unify it and the memory of it, we have Jesus’ prayer before the crucifixion, which is nothing less than God praying for us and with us. As an additional text for emphasis we have the last but lingering words of Jesus offered on the cross before his death. Friends, we have touched on this before, but it is worth exploring in greater detail. For the context is one of discovery that reinforces our need for the continuing experience of repentant and thankful prayer with God until we and all who are going to be saved have been saved. It is that important. And this hopefully becomes clear: the transformation from fear to love though faith requires for us to be with God on an ongoing basis. And because God has committed to never leave us, the counterbalance should prompt something in us who seek the peace of prayer as a priority. So, Are You Committed To A Continual Connection With God?
Scripture: Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
Acts 1:12-14 (NRSV)
But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name.
1 Peter 4:13-16 (NRSV)
After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.
John 17:1-11a (NRSV)
After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
John 19: 28-30 (NRSV)
Message: Jesus completed the work assigned to him by the Father so that his followers would know God. It was no longer about sacrifice but the law of love…the Spirit of Jesus being given to us. The Apostles were consecrated to take this work to the world. They were set apart for a holy purpose but were not removed from the world. So too those who believe today are to be a means of sanctification for the entire world. We are to discover that there is a miracle that lies within each of us that empowers, equips and enables us to receive the power of life…love. In love, we have the power for living, the power to witness, the power to pray and even the power to perform miracles. What it amounts to, when in unity with other lovers, is the power to be like Jesus in this world. Friends, the Holy Spirit gives us capacity individually but more importantly collectively. Indeed, we are to know and to rely on the love God has for us on a personal basis but also communally. We are to witness by and through the power of the Holy Spirit in which we move, live and have our very being. Friends, we need to live in the power of the Spirit here on earth until we get to our heavenly home that Jesus has prepared for us. We need to rejoice because Jesus has interceded for us to protect, sanctify and bring unity to us all through love for each other. In this Spirit the Body of Christ is birthed. The love of Jesus for us makes success out of our failures even in our prayer life. Our love of Jesus makes our testimony believable when we face trials and when we pray. And though Jesus does not want us to have to suffer through the temptation that he went through we all at some time will face them and must confront the lust of the flesh, the pride of life and the lust of the eyes. The proof text of God’s love and Sovereignty in all regards is in the scriptures. Here it becomes clear that God can love us, and the world can judge us but we are not in control of some things and must submit to God’s rule. We also learn, especially in the story of Peter, that hearing our named called can be a joyful or horrible experience. It all depends on the situation. And let’s be honest about today’s stories, and our petitions. In most cases we are not at all sure the outcomes of our prayers are going to be joyful experiences. But perhaps we might learn that they are about the nudging of God to get us to where God wants us to go in our lives and giving us what we need over what we want. The stories in the Bible are instructive here. When we say, we love Jesus, when we pray and are giving our testimony before the King our words are to be believable and backed up by actions in our lives. We must seek to love and care for others. We all have, hopefully, experienced the love of Jesus in our lives, but deep down, in addition to God’s love of us, we need to experience and express our love of God. Friends, we need to be lovers of people and for this love to be believed they need to see the love of Christ in our lives.
And So, believe but also be believable. Do acts of justice and mercy in your humble walk with God. Realize that God will be God and we are not in charge. Realize that there are many temptations and trials that we sadly fall into because our flesh is naturally weak, but we have a God who will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. Realize that God will provide a way out and a court of a higher status that can rule with love and purpose in ways we cannot fully understand. Realize that God is not evil but sometimes uses the evil of men for good and even redeems people like Paul and Peter for a holy purpose. Realize that we may not be so great at determining what is good and bad because our love is not as great as God’s. Realize that the last thing Jesus said before dying on the cross was, “It is finished.” And this means to end, to complete, and to accomplish. But it is translated from the Greek word tetelestai which is in the perfect tense which means an action which has been completed in the past with results continuing into the present defeating that which must be changed in us as we pray in the persistent presence of God.
Pray we take time to be in God’s presence each and every moment of our life. Pray we be helped to pray by the Spirit of God. Pray we desire to commune with God through the life of Jesus. Pray the intensity of our prayers grow with time. Pray our conversations with God are not one sided. Pray our prayers are more in the listening than in the talking. Pray we let God have the last word. Pray we have a mountain moving faith. Pray our acts of Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication are filled with the Holy Spirit. Pray our prayers focus on how to serve in the kingdom of God. Pray our prayers are truly powerful because we no longer look at the size of the mountain that must be moved but on the sufficiency of the Mountain Mover, the creator of all things seen and unseen. Pray we realize that the very act of prayer is a blessing from God that continues on.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 