Acts 1:6-14

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” vs. 8

For a couple of decades following his death and resurrection, followers of Jesus eagerly anticipated his return in glory to complete what he had begun. They were still looking for the restoration of the kingdom of Israel. But when Luke wrote his gospel some years later he did his best to let his readers know that they hadn’t been called to stand around waiting. Instead, as did Matthew, Luke reports that at the end Jesus told his disciples to go as witnesses to the ends of the earth, and that he would go with them. And that’s what has happened! Through the Holy Spirit Jesus has returned to energize and empower countless disciples to bring the good news to hurting people all over the globe. We should never imagine that people have evolved to the point that they no longer need community or the assurance of unconditional love. If anything, people in this age of constant connection have become more lonely and alienated than ever. Hordes of refugees are on the move, fleeing oppression and yearning for better lives. Climate disaster looms! And the heart of Jesus is filled with compassion! He calls us to continue loving and serving in his name until the hungry are fed and the hurting find healing. Our mission goes on!

Thought for the Day: What energizes me for mission?

John 14:18-21

”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.” vs. 18

It’s not unusual for people to have mixed feelings about their mothers. Occasionally children will blame them for any number of their emotional or psychological hang-ups, but more often they are held in deep regard and honored as a prime source of warmth and love. As a result, Mother’s Day has become the primary “Hallmark Holiday,” and, outside of Christmas and Easter, is often the best attended  service of the year in many congregations. Even golfing fathers become reluctant worshippers as mothers are extolled and celebrated. Of course mothers can’t be with us forever. One day each of them will die, often before we’re ready to lose them, and from then on we live as orphans, bereft of the one who has loved us so dearly. It’s not unusual to be moved to tears at the memory of the one who has passed out of our daily experience. Jesus must have been aware of such feelings and used that imagery to bring comfort to his disciples as he prepared for his death. “You won’t be orphans,” he tells them. “I am coming to you.” Some people report that they’ve sensed the presence of their mothers long after their deaths, and they like it that they’ve not been left alone. It’s that experience that Jesus was talking about. He’s not with us in the flesh, yet the continuing presence of his Spirit sustains us. Like a loving mother, Jesus never leaves us!

Thought for the Day: What legacy have I received from my mother?

John 14:15-17

”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.” vss. 15-16

Sometimes it can seem as though the world could care less about love, at least the brand of love that was at the core of Jesus’ ministry and that he commanded his followers to practice. Instead we are served up a steady diet of lies, deceit, and self-serving manipulation. People push their own agendas and imagine that accumulation is humanity’s highest good. Everything is focused on the individual and little attention is paid to sacrificial service. In that kind of environment it’s easy to feel isolated and lonely, and we may even wonder if there are any who share our values. Such is the life of a disciple, and Jesus takes pains to let them know that he values their commitment to love. It’s what identified them as one of his followers. And then he assures them that they will never be alone, that he will send them the Advocate or Comforter, who is the very presence of Jesus himself. This is Holy Spirit talk, and it does make a difference for us too. We aren’t alone in this world. There are others who share our commitment to unconditional love, and in the context of this great company of believers Jesus has returned as the Holy Spirit to be our guide and comforter. And we are making a difference!

Thought for the Day: What’s the connection between Jesus and the Holy Spirit?

1 Peter 3:18-22

“(Jesus) went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.” vss. 19b-20

Noah’s ark was one of the favorite symbols of early Christians and is featured in crude drawings on the walls of many ancient worship sites. For them the ark was good news, and a reminder that just as Noah and his family were once saved through water, believers were now being saved through the water of baptism. Peter takes care to tell them though that it wasn’t the cleansing of the water that brought salvation. Baptism is more than just water, it’s a connection to the grace of God that had been made manifest in the resurrection of Jesus. it’s because Jesus now lives that we have life in him–it’s not just a matter of being sprinkled or dunked! This doesn’t mean that baptism is insignificant or unimportant. Whether we were baptized as infants or adults our baptisms deserve to be remembered. It’s the point of connection between the grace of God and our individual lives and a powerful reminder that our pasts do not define our futures. We are forgiven beings and the road ahead has been cleared of every impediment. We are free to be–and there are no limits to what God can do through us.

Thought for the Day: What images do I have of my baptism?

1 Peter 3:13-17

“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.” vss. 15b-16a

It’s not unusual in these days of political division and constant turmoil for our conversations to reflect despair and pessimism. We get a full dose of bad news with every news cycle and each day brings reports of mass shootings and border turmoil. Disaster seems just around the corner, and people tend to compete with one another in relating their tales of hopelessness and tragedy. No wonder so many struggle with issues of depression and anxiety! Bad news is all around! Peter was familiar with those laments. The people he was writing to had every reason to fear the future–suffering was always close at hand and the Roman overlords were cruel. But these followers of Jesus refused to capitulate to the predictors of doom and disaster. Where others saw the ending of God’s world, they saw new beginnings. When others were filled with despair they held onto hope. They remind us that people of faith will always speak of the future with hope and expectation. Things are going to get better. And if the purveyors of gloom come at us with their dire predictions, we are called to testify to our hopefulness, and do it with gentleness and kindness. Our God is good and goodness will always triumph!

Thought for the Day: When am I tempted to talk about how bad things are?

Psalm 66:8-20

“I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will pay you my vows, those that my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.” vss. 13-14

The psalmist had come through some tough times, maybe some sort of health issue or financial problem, and during those dark days he had made some promises to God about what he would do if he was restored. Chief among those vows was a promise to offer an abundance of burnt offerings at the temple. We’re familiar with those offers to return thanks to God when the current crisis is over. Most folks have probably done that at one time or another. “Get me through this cancer, Lord, and I promise, I’ll be in church every single Sunday.” And then it happens! The tumors disappear, the doctor is pleased, and we are ecstatic. And seldom are the promises remembered! We go on with life and don’t give our vows a second thought. But sometimes people follow through. When Martin Luther had the liver scared out of him in a lightning storm, he promised St. Anne that if she helped him, he would become a monk.  His life was saved, he sold his stuff, and he entered a monastery–and the world was forever changed! Promises are funny things. We do try to keep them, but sometimes the ones we make to God are quickly forgotten. The psalmist didn’t forget; Luther didn’t forget. Were they on to something, or just  foolish?

Thought for the Day: Do I make vows to God? Do I keep them?

Acts 17:26-31

“so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’;” vss. 27-28a

Paul believed that God had brought all people into existence and that it was human nature to search for God, and that occasionally our groping would be successful. Since God is not far from any of us, how could it be otherwise? In fact we live and move and have our being in God. This is a teaching to hang on to. God doesn’t live in a region beyond the edges of the universe called “heaven.” God is here now, and we can never escape God’s presence. But that doesn’t mean that all people have an awareness of God! For many God is little more than a word, an idea or concept that humans have invented to explain things they can’t understand. Eventually they say, once we’ve attained all knowledge there will no longer be any need to even use the word “God” anymore. Paul would have scoffed at such primitive thinking. For him God is everything that is and more. That means we will likely have multiple God encounters throughout our lives, and some folks will consciously walk with God every day. Of course our best looks at God still come through our Jesus glasses, and focusing on Jesus will give us a glimpse of God that is always up close and personal.

Thought for the Day: When is my God consciousness most acute?

Acts 17:22-25

“For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.” vs. 23

The ruins of the Parthenon in Athens are spectacular. Every year millions of tourists come to gape at the wonder of its columns and the delicate beauty of its carvings. When Paul came to Athens on his first missionary journey this temple dedicated to the goddess Athena was already nearly 500 years old, and at the height of its splendor. But Paul was not impressed. Standing on Mars Hill in the shadow of the temple he engaged Greek philosophers in debate. He had observed an altar dedicated to an unknown god in the city, and used that experience as the basis for a lecture on the one true God, the Creator and Lord of heaven and earth, the one who brought all things into existence and who gives life to all living things. He didn’t make any mention of the Hebrew scriptures but instead uses references to Greek authors and writers to make his point. He knows that God is bigger than any religion or philosophy and is accessible from an amazing variety of perspectives. That truth is worth remembering! Sometimes not using religious language is the best way to communicate the gospel.

Thought for the Day: Why does religious language sometimes turn people off?

John 14:8-14

“I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.” vss. 13-14

Citing this verse followers of Jesus have regularly asked Jesus for any number of things. It seems we don’t have any trouble thinking of things that he could help with. Most of the time our requests will likely have to do with healing, either for ourselves or for our loved ones, but occasionally we ask for help in other areas too. Of course we’re not fools, we do know that there are limits, and it’s unlikely Jesus will help us with lottery tickets. But then again, sometimes we think, “What the heck, there’s no harm in asking,” and we go ahead with our requests. And all this is fine and dandy–until we start thinking we can compel Jesus to give us what we want. There’s no way that this is what he had in mind when he sought to assure his disciples of his continuing presence in their life. Jesus isn’t an ATM machine ready to cater to our every whim. But he is in partnership with us, and as we engage in doing God’s work in the world, we can count on his strength and abiding presence. But he has no interest in helping us with our putting or investments! All those things are on us–and when the ball doesn’t go in the hole we have no one to blame but ourselves!

Thought for the Day: In what circumstances does Jesus help us?

John 14:1-7

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” vss. 1-2

According to John, before his death Jesus prepared his disciples for his leaving by assuring them that he was just going away to prepare a place for them in his Father’s house. His words, while mysterious, proved to be of immense comfort to them in their sadness, and so they have continued to be for his followers in every time and place. We love to hear that death is not the end, and that in the new life each person will be welcomed into the presence of Jesus. It’s the same promise spoken of by the psalmist when he wrote, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” As our lives here on earth gradually diminish and we become conscious that one day all those relationships we hold dear will come to an end, it is a blessing to know that Jesus is waiting for us, and that we and our loved ones will rest in peace. We can’t comprehend now what that blessed rest will be like–it will remain a mystery until we enter it. But to know that it is waiting can bring us amazing assurance when death finally does draw near.

Thought for the Day: What brings me comfort in the presence of death?