Jesus is no-one’s private healer

Morning: Psalm 38; Daniel 5:1-12; I John 5:1-12

Evening: Psalm 119:25-48; Luke 4:38-44

The people of Galilee see Jesus’s healing power in action and they want to keep him for themselves.  But he insists that other cities also need the good news he has to share.  From the beginning Jesus is clear that he is no-one’s private healer.  When you encounter him, you may experience healing, but it is not for your own benefit alone.  You are to use your well-being for the common good.  Nor are Jesus’s healings an end in themselves.  They are to draw our attention to his larger purpose, which is the healing of the world. 

“I’m only human” is no excuse for inhumanity

Morning: Psalms 26, 28; Daniel 4:28-37; I John 4:7-21

Evening: Psalms 36, 39; Luke 4:31-37

Jesus’s mission is to invite us back to ourselves.  He is the truly human one who calls evil out and names it.  Evil easily overwhelms us, but evil is not who we are.  Inhumanity is to be dominated by forces alien to our humanity.  We excuse our shortcomings by saying, “I’m only human”, but Jesus will have none of it.  To be human is to live out the instinct for love that we carry in our DNA.  “I’m only human” is no excuse for inhumanity.  Hatred is in-human.  To be human is to love one another.

Love is the way, therefore Love must reign in the end

Morning: Psalms 97, 98; Proverbs 8:22-30; John 13:20-35

Evening: Psalm 145; Isaiah 44:1-8; I John 5:1-12

John the Evangelist is full of hope. He is known as Jesus’s “Beloved Disciple”.  On this, John’s Feast Day, it is perhaps good for us to recall a few of the lessons that John distilled into his Gospel from his personal encounter with Jesus: ... Love is the way to a full life.  Love in action is what counts.  A change of heart makes Love possible.  Love guarantees forgiveness and a chance to begin again.  You are not alone; you can count on help from beyond ... Jesus offers the help you need.  Love must reign in the end.

When you grow old ...

Morning: Psalms 148, 149, 150; Daniel 4:1-18; I Peter 4:7-11

Evening: Psalms 114, 115; John 21:15-25

Jesus encourages Peter to continue on the path, even following failure ... He reminds Peter that in youth, you decide what you do and when; but when you grow old, you have obligations, though you might not want them.  Like so much of Jesus’s teaching, this is counter-cultural ... Life is supposed to get easier with age, isn’t it?  But instead, Jesus seems to be saying: With age, you have skill and experience to compensate for having less energy and youthful zeal ... and there are the young ones to care for ... So, “Tend my lambs,” says Jesus.

[Apologies for yesterday’s missed reflection ... Who imagined 20 years ago how challenging a day without a computer might become?!]

Persistence and courage to make a difference

Morning: Psalm 145; Acts 12:25-13:3

Evening: Psalms 67, 96; Isaiah 62:6-12; 2 Timothy 4:1-11

St. Mark, whose Day this is, wrote the earliest account of Jesus’s life; he also accompanied Barnabas and Paul, as they carried Jesus’s message throughout the Mediterranean world.  Paul influenced and encouraged Mark, as he did others, to be persistent whether the moment is favourable or not; to convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching; to be sober, to endure suffering, to do your best to bring good news.  Without Mark, the world may have turned out quite differently.  All of which makes me wonder what difference I myself might make by sharing Jesus’s message?

Hands and feet follow the heart

Morning: Psalm 18:1-20; Daniel 2:31-49; I John 2:18-29

Evening: Psalm 18:21-50; Luke 3:1-14

John is an ‘advance party’ for his cousin Jesus, preparing the way, smoothing the path.  John practices tvilah, a Jewish ritual washing signifying an inner cleansing, a transformation of the heart.  The inward transformation leads to an outward transformation – embodied in sharing clothing or food with the needy, refraining from cheating others and from engaging in extortion.  We may work hard to change our behaviours and we may do well ... for a while.  But without the heart’s transformation, we easily ‘lose heart’ and flounder.  Hands and feet cannot sustain the energy to go where the heart doesn’t want to.

Do I really know what I stand for?

Morning: Psalm 119:137-160; Job 23:1-12; I John 1:43-51 (? 1 John 1)

Evening: Psalm 139; Proverbs 4:7-18; John 12:20-26

When I was a boy, they said “stand up for yourself”.  That was not enough ... I learned I should stand up for others too.  Two weeks ago, today’s Gospel story came up; it’s here again because today is St. Philip’s Day ... Two weeks ago, my response to it was to ask: “do we really know what Jesus stands for?”  Today, I find myself asking: “do I really know what I stand for?”  For Jesus invites me to stand for something much bigger than myself.  My challenge is figuring out who or what exactly, and how?