Do you grasp the urgency of the situation?

Morning: Psalms 66, 67; Jeremiah 14:1-9, 17-22; Galatians 4:21-5:1

Evening: Psalms 19, 46; Mark 8:11-21

Sometimes teachers keep explaining but students still don’t understand.  How frustrating it is for Jesus when his disciples seem unready for the challenges that are coming.  He warns them about the destructive vision of the religious leaders.  In our day too, the competing visions of those in power clash with one another.  The human family is at a critical moment ... Jesus asks now, as then: “Do you grasp the urgency of the situation?  Do you understand what my mission is ... to transform the earth into a place of mercy and compassion?   Are you ready to work with me?”

You don’t make stuff up to discredit yourself

Morning: Psalms 87, 90; Jeremiah 13:1-11; Romans 6:12-23

Evening: Psalm 136; John 8:47-59

Jesus says shocking things ... people think him demon-possessed, and just don’t believe him.  Why, though, would his followers make up stories like these to discredit him and themselves too?  Jesus claims, provocatively: “Before Abraham was, I am.”  “I AM” is the Hebrew name for God; so, Jesus is identifying his actions and words with God’s, like: “If you want to know God, stick with me.”  Such talk might make you suspect that Jesus is not in his right mind.  The only thing to do, then, is to read on and judge that for yourself.

Lies or truth? Slavery or freedom?

Morning: Psalm 88; Jeremiah 11:1-8, 14-20; Romans 6:1-11

Evening: Psalms 91, 92; John 8:33-47

In his book The People of the Lie, Scott Peck claims that evil is characterized by lies.  Peck says human illness is born in the conflict between lies and truth.  Maybe someone imposes a false version of reality on others because they find the truth unbearable.  So, lies end up masquerading as truth.  Living a lie, even one, destroys the human spirit, because we really want to know and to be our true selves.  Lies make slaves of us. Lies propagate more lies and evil flourishes.  Life does offer a choice, though – Lies or truth?  Slavery or freedom?

Truth takes effort, but it will liberate you

Morning: Psalms 42, 43; Jeremiah 10:11-24; Romans 5:12-21

Evening: Psalms 85, 86; John 8:21-32

If something is difficult, but worthwhile, we give it our all.  Why, then, do we expect any spiritual path to be simple?  People can devote a lifetime to proficiency in art, science, music, writing or carpentry but give up easily on the effort it takes to understand Jesus ...  Given the enormous influence of disciples of Jesus and their extraordinary contributions throughout modern history, might it be worth testing what Jesus says ... that if you follow his word (which may be demanding to grasp) you will know truth and experience freedom?

‘The Light of the World’

Morning: Psalm 119:97-120; Jeremiah 8:18-9:6; Romans 5:1-11

Evening: Psalms 81, 82; John 8:12-20

Christianity has been repeatedly and often justifiably criticized for its human failings.  Criticisms of Jesus are less common, though, usually based on disagreement with his knack for turning the world upside down – ‘the first shall be last and the last first’; ‘love your enemies’, etc.  When Jesus called himself ‘the light of the world’, religious leaders dismissed him for saying that about himself.  While some of Jesus’s attitudes were clearly mediated by the culture he lived in – sexuality, slavery, etc. – his ways and wisdom continue to shine a light into humanity’s dark places and offer hope of something brighter.

How to satisfy your thirst

Morning: Psalm 78:1-39; Jeremiah 7:21-34; Romans 4:13-25

Evening: Psalm 78:40-72; John 7:37-52

Do you thirst ... perhaps for truth, meaning, forgiveness, or Love?  Isaiah writes: “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.”  It becomes clear ... Isaiah means spiritual thirst and, he says, spiritual nourishment comes from ‘the Lord’.  Jesus, hundreds of years later, says: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me.”  So, history comes to identify Jesus as ‘the Lord’.  It is not only because Jesus said these words, but because many find it to be true ... that they satisfy their spiritual thirst by turning to the Way of Jesus, whose invitation to the thirsty still stands. 

Monday March 25th – Giving birth to grace and truth in the world

Morning: Psalms 85, 87; Isaiah 52:7-12; Hebrews 2:5-10

Evening: Psalms 110, 132; John 1:9-14

Today is ‘Lady Day’ in Church tradition ... Mary hears from Gabriel that she will bear a son.  Mary submits her will to a higher purpose: ‘Let it be’.  For this, Mary is regarded with high esteem ... In the Eastern Church, she is ‘theotokos’ (God-bearer), one who ‘gives birth to God’, whom they believe Jesus to be.  Thereafter, every person of faith gives birth to God, when, in the tradition of Mary, they submit to that same higher purpose.  That purpose is that we be filled – and fill the world – with grace and truth.

Mental health … being authentic and real

Morning: Psalm 93, 96; Jeremiah 6:9-15; I Corinthians 6:12-20

Evening: Psalm 34; Mark 5:1-20

The stories of Jesus ‘casting out demons’ are strange, probably the ancient world’s way of understanding mental illness.  Jesus heals the man ‘possessed’ by many demons. For us, mental health might be described as ... being aware of who you are and living at peace with yourself. Being self-aware and at peace is hard when you receive contradictory messages as a child from elders and authority figures; it confuses you about what is real and true.  When the man ‘possessed’ meets Jesus, maybe for the first time in his life he meets someone who is authentic and real?

Truth is dangerous both to speak and ignore

Morning: Psalms 75, 76; Jeremiah 5:20-31; Romans 3:19-31

Evening: Psalms 23, 27; John 7:1-13

Jesus says that the world hates, persecutes and even wants to kill him because he speaks the truth about its evil ways.  St. Gregory of Nyssa (in about 380) wrote that a lie is “an illusion in the soul about what is unreal” and truth is “being free from error about the nature of reality.”  Big Oil spends $200 million a year to propagate the illusion that human-caused climate change is unreal.  Meanwhile, teenagers protest.  Our society does not kill teenage prophets – ironically, we love our oil so much we believe the illusion that it’s not killing us!

The illusion of the ‘self-made man or woman’

Morning: Psalm 69:1-38; Jeremiah 5:1-9; Romans 2:25-3:18

Evening: Psalm 73; John 5:30-47

Jesus himself said, “I can do nothing on my own.” In 1873, Frederick Douglass, wrote that there are “no such men as self-made men” because no-one is independent of the past and present ... and we receive what is best and most valuable either from our contemporaries or from people who came before us ... “We have all either begged, borrowed or stolen. We have reaped where others have sown.”  Any meaningful human future will be built not on individualistic ideals and accomplishments but on a deep awareness of how important we are to one another.

Does your ‘higher power’ seem to you like a cop?

Morning: Psalms 70, 71; Jeremiah 4:9-10, 19-28; Romans 2:12-24

Evening: Psalm 74; John 5:19-29

The Scriptures sometimes say bad behaviour brings bad consequences, and good behaviour good consequences.  I wonder ... do you assume this means these consequences are punishments or rewards from a higher power?  Try another approach ... When you read about good or bad consequences, assume that they are not the responses of a police-like higher power but natural processes built into the way the world is made ... So, evil tears the fabric of Creation bringing harm and disruption, while goodness cares for the fabric of Creation and brings with it healing and peace.  Is your ‘God’ too small?

What is the law for? ... healing & justice

Morning: Psalm 72; Jeremiah 3:6-18; Romans 1:28-2:11

Evening: Psalm 119:73-96; John 5:1-18

We regard the ‘healing miracles’ of Jesus as if healing is their main theme.  But with the man at the pool, the story is about two other themes too: 1. For 38 years no-one helps this isolated man; and 2. Jesus offends the legalists by healing him on the Sabbath.  Jesus’s healing action here is a protest against inhumane laws that forbid healing on certain days but make no provision for the well-being of a paralyzed man.  Jesus attends to the law’s true goal ... a just society, which isolates no-one and provides humane assistance for all who need it.

Human beings ... vessels for the birth of Love

Morning: Psalm 132; Isaiah 63:7-16; Matthew 1:18-25

Evening: Psalm 34; 2 Chronicles 6:12-17; Ephesians 3:14-21

To be born into the world, Love needs willing human vessels.  For people of faith and no-faith, Jesus is Love incarnate.  Mary, his mother, opened her will and heart to be a vessel for Love, opened her being to the promise that Love would be born through her.  Mary’s husband Joseph, whose day we mark today, also opened himself to the astounding possibility of Love being born through him.  To be born into the world today, Love still needs willing human vessels – you and me – with hearts open to the possibility that Love might be born, yes, even in us!

Others sowed; we reap ... until the work is done

Morning: Psalms 56, 57; Jeremiah 1:11-19; Romans 1:1-15

Evening: Psalms 64, 65; John 4:27-42

I never loved history in school.  But when I go somewhere that is new to me, I am often humbled ... For there is evidence all around of the creativity and goodness of earlier generations.  We are not the first to invest ourselves for the sake of the common good.  Others have laboured before, as Jesus pointed out, to serve the dream of a world made whole. If we share their dream, we now enter into their labour.  Where they sowed seeds of Love, we reap the harvest and plant again, until the world is restored to its lost purpose.

Who is my mother, or my sister, or my brother?

Morning: Psalms 24, 29; Jeremiah 1:1-10; I Corinthians 3:11-23

Evening: Psalms 8, 84; Mark 3:31-4:9

Jesus expands our understanding ... Is our vision of family too small?  Jesus’s ‘family’ includes all who invest in what is good and just and true.  His hearers are shocked, offended even, when he asks, provocatively: Who is my mother?  But he is saying:  Do not limit human potential ... plant liberally seeds of a vision of human relationships rooted in Love, Love that is not expressed only within a traditional family, but is shared freely with all, without exception. And don’t give up, see.  Some seeds of Love will perish but many will germinate and Love will grow.

The path to maturity: taming the ‘ego’

Morning: Psalm 40, 54; Deuteronomy 10:12-22; Hebrews 4:11-16

Evening: Psalm 51; John 3:22-36

“He must increase, I must decrease” ... John the Baptist describes his outward relationship with Jesus – John’s work is done, Jesus’s work is beginning.  But John is also describing his inner transformation towards spiritual maturity.  The great masters of the inner life practise the path to true maturity, where the ‘ego’ learns awe and humility in the presence of the mystery of the Cosmos.  With humility, my ‘ego’ diminishes, and I find what poet Mary Oliver calls my “place in the family of things” ... that is, I find my life’s meaning. For me to mature, my ‘ego’ must decrease.

The path to maturity: taming the ‘ego’

Morning: Psalm 40, 54; Deuteronomy 10:12-22; Hebrews 4:11-16

Evening: Psalm 51; John 3:22-36

“He must increase, I must decrease” ... John the Baptist describes his outward relationship with Jesus – John’s work is done, Jesus’s work is beginning.  But John is also describing his inner transformation towards spiritual maturity.  The great masters of the inner life practise the path to true maturity, where the ‘ego’ learns awe and humility in the presence of the mystery of the Cosmos.  With humility, my ‘ego’ diminishes, and I find what poet Mary Oliver calls my “place in the family of things” ... that is, I find my life’s meaning. For me to mature, my ‘ego’ must decrease.

Read the Bible through the lens of Love

Morning: Psalm 50; Deuteronomy 9:23-10:5; Hebrews 4:1-10

Evening: Psalm 19, 46; John 3:16-21

One way of reading the Bible causes some people to reject it.  They read it expecting morality and judgment, but that is a dead-end path.  The Bible is not about a perverse God’s anger at our bad behaviour or unbelief.  Instead, read the Bible from the outset as a story of mercy, healing and love.  It’s easy to find the Love story in there ... When you find it, read again what you thought before was about morality or judgment ... but read it through the lens of Love.  It may appear altogether different.  Persevere.  Love stories are seldom simple.

Has anyone told you you’re awesome?

Morning: Psalm 119:49-72; Deuteronomy 9:13-21; Hebrews 3:12-19

Evening: Psalm 49; John 2:23-3:15

John’s Gospel announces that Jesus is no ordinary human being, but ‘the Word made flesh’. The story goes on ... that means every human being is extraordinary too.  A friend of mine often bowls me over by asking: “Has anyone told you today how awesome you are?”  That’s essentially what Jesus tells Nicodemus when he says you must be ‘born from above.’  This is the awesome mystery of our humanity ... Life is so much more than a physical body, much bigger than what we see or touch.  When you accept how awesome you are, what a difference that makes.

It’s not yet time for celebration

Morning: Psalm 45; Deuteronomy 9:4-12; Hebrews 3:1-11

Evening: Psalms 47, 48; John 2:13-22

When wine runs out at the wedding feast, Jesus protests, “My time has not yet come.”  Soon after, he confronts those who desecrate the holiness of the temple.  Isn’t this amazing universe we live in also a temple, a holy place?  One courageous Swedish teenager, Greta Thunberg, says she cannot ignore the climate crisis, the destruction of our eco-systems, and carry on pretending that everything is normal; she feels compelled to protest.  No doubt we will raise a glass of wine together when the temple of the Cosmos is finally revered. But we have much to do before that celebration. 

Holy places ... where mystery & love are revered

Morning: Psalms 41, 52; Deuteronomy 8:11-20; Hebrews 2:11-18

Evening: Psalm 44; John 2:1-12

I believe – you may think me delusional? – that temples, sacred circles, churches, synagogues and mosques are vital signs of the profound sacredness of all things.  Sadly, holy places can be tainted by abusive and hypocritical behaviour.  But polluted streams are worth restoring to their pristine state ... Truly holy places revere and honour the mystery of the Cosmos.  Truly holy places own, practice and teach the healing power of Love.  Jesus sought to make the temple true.  Now more than ever, our world needs truly holy places, where mystery and love are revered.

Same old same old, or a new way of life?

Morning: Psalms 63:1-11, 98; Deuteronomy 8:1-10; I Corinthians 1:17-31

Evening: Psalm 103; Mark 2:18-22

In the 60s, we sewed patches on our jeans.  Now, jeans come with large holes.  Fashions come and go.  Jesus warns metaphorically against patching old garments with new, unshrunk cloth.  He does this to signify that his message invites a radical transformation.  Sometimes we wrap Jesus’s message in faddish or fashionable packaging that only betrays our insatiable need for ‘something new’ to keep us interested.  Jesus calls us to break free of fashionable fads and venture into his radically new way of life, the life that transforms us and those around ... not ‘more of the same’ in fancier clothes.

Seek out people who will challenge you

Morning: Psalms 30, 32; Deuteronomy 7:17-26; Titus 3:1-15

Evening: Psalms 42, 43; John 1:43-51

Philip is impressed by Jesus.  Nathanael is skeptical and challenges Jesus to his face.  Jesus’s famous response is, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”  Jesus wants companions like Nathanael.  People in positions of influence or authority are often harried by yes-people who try to ‘say the right thing’, impress and curry favour.  But the Way of Jesus looks for honesty.  Jesus perceives that Nathanael will never try to impress him by deceit.  It’s not easy to seek out helpers who will challenge you, but that is what great leaders do.

“Come and see” … Jesus’s irresistible invitation

Morning: Psalm 31; Deuteronomy 7:12-16; Titus 2:1-15

Evening: Psalm 35; John 1:35-42

Jesus is a figure whose very way of being attracts people.  John says Jesus will “baptize … with the Spirit”.  For Andrew and Simon, the disciples who hear this first, it signifies ancient (but still relevant) promises – freedom, fulfilment, healing, peace.  They find Jesus’s invitation irresistible … “Come and see”, he says, and they go.  Maybe people in our day resist the Spirit because Jesus’s followers down the ages have argued so much about things of the Spirit?  Recover the simple promise of the Spirit that Andrew and Peter heard, though, and Jesus’s invitation may prove irresistible again to us.

Are you ready to get wet?

Morning: Psalm 37:1-18; Deuteronomy 7:6-11; Titus 1:1-16

Evening: Psalm 37:19-42; John 1:29-34

John says Jesus “takes away the sin of the world.” Now, sin is broken relationships, not moral failings.  It is becoming clearer: humanity has lost its way.  Our sense of who we are and what we are for is weak and flawed.  We struggle to find meaning. We do not find meaning in reason or logic, but only in an encounter, in a direct experience of truth … Love or beauty washes over us and we respond, “Yes!”.  Jesus does not explain truth; he bathes us in it.  But you have to be ready to get wet!

Ash Wednesday … the freeing power of humility

Morning: Psalms 95, 32, 143; Jonah 3:1-4:11; Hebrews 12:1-14

Evening: Psalms 102, 130; Luke 18:9-14

Jesus shows you your true self.  Religious people especially can get proud and hypocritical … The Pharisee is proud about his virtue and generosity, but his boasting sounds hollow.  The tax collector’s prayer for mercy has the ring of truth.  And he discovers that the truth is what frees you and heals you.  Ash Wednesday is about this: Humility becomes you more than pride. One day you will return to the earth (humus).  So while you live, seek forgiveness from those you have wronged; make amends.  Whose forgiveness do you need?  Who needs yours?

“It’s not about me”

Morning: Psalms 26, 28; Deuteronomy 6:16-25; Hebrews 2:1-10

Evening: Psalms 36, 39; John 1:19-28

When people over-estimate their own importance, we say, “It’s not about you!”  But there is no equivalent for when we over-estimate someone else’s importance or put them on a pedestal.  People thought John the Baptist was the Messiah.  John quickly set them straight, saying in effect: “It’s not about me … There’s someone here you don’t know. I’m not even worthy to hold his coat.  What I’m doing is about him.”  How easily it is for me to get caught up in my own ego and priorities and forget to point beyond myself to one much greater than I.

Let’s be clear what the story of Jesus is about …

Morning: Psalm 25; Deuteronomy 6:10-15; Hebrews 1:1-14

Evening: Psalms 9, 15; John 1:1-18

John’s Gospel makes no bones about its astonishing claim: Everything comes from the ‘Logos’, the ‘Word of God’.  John says the Cosmos was spoken into existence and that the light that shines in Jesus is the same light that shines through the Cosmos, because he is actually also its source.  This is astounding, and no one can ‘prove’ it one way or another.  We may believe that this amazing, intricate and beautiful universe is an unfolding Creation, or that it’s just an accident.  But what we believe about it, and about Jesus, will profoundly affect how we live our lives.

Die to whatever is not worthy of you

Morning: Psalms 148, 149, 150; Deuteronomy 6:1-9; Hebrews 12:18-29

Evening: Psalms 114, 115; John 12:24-32

Jesus, speaking of his own death, says seeds cannot bear fruit unless they die.  Now not many of us must die as he did.  Instead, Jesus might say to us: “Let go! … Live fully! Don’t grimly ‘hang on for dear life’.  If you have surrendered to some priority that is not life-giving, you cannot live fruitfully.  You must die to whatever is not worthy of you, whatever does not bring joy to you or to others.  Die to selfishness and greed: then you will live.”  For him, this is our most important choice … and the world’s.