SUNDAY 6 (April 14, 2019)

Psalm 118

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

2 Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?
7 The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.

10 All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;

   in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
12 They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
13 I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me.

14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
15 Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous:
   “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,
16     the right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”

17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.
18 The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them
    and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.

Day 34 (Saturday, April 13, 2019)

Read

John 17:20-26


20 “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

25 “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Reflect

During our travels through the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland many years ago, the magnificent peaks were hidden by heavy cloud. Then late one afternoon outside Interlaken, the cloud lifted, revealing the glorious sight of the snow-covered peak of the Jungfrau, aglow with the reflected glory of the setting sun.

One of the astonishing promises God makes is that all who have turned to Jesus Christ will one day be made glorious. Not only will the whole of the universe, the created order of heaven and earth be re-made perfectly reflecting God’s glory, but God’s people will also participate in it.

In the meantime God is preparing for that day by drawing men and women from all nations and peoples into a relationship of faith, hope and love with himself through Jesus Christ. This occurs through the declaration of his good news. God is committed to forgiving sin and changing lives by the action of his gospel of grace and the work of the Holy Spirit. His intention is that we might increasingly come to live lives of loyal obedience to him.

 Key to all this is the Lord Jesus Christ, our rescuer from our self-centeredness. As people around us see the changes he brings to our lives they will see the reality of God at work.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, keep your household the Church continually in your true religion; so that those who lean only on the hope of your heavenly grace may always be defended by your mighty power; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP Epiphany 5)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 17:13-26

Day 33 (Friday, April 12, 2019)

Read

John 17:1-5


1 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, 2 since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5 So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

Reflect

Jesus knew that within hours he was going to die. In chapter 17, John records Jesus’ prayer while he was still in the upper room with his disciples. It was still the night of the Passover meal. In the course of the prayer Jesus prayed for himself, for his disciples and for all who would become his followers – for people like you and me.

The focus of his prayer for himself is significant: it is the theme of glory. The real meaning of glory often eludes us for we tend to think of it only as the outward splendor of fame or beauty. So we speak of the glory of a woman’s hair or the glory of a splendid building, illuminated against a dark night sky. But that is only part of the meaning, for the true meaning is more subtle. Glory is the outward manifestation of previously hidden, inner qualities.

In praying as he does, Father… glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, Jesus is praying that he will remain faithful to the end in implementing God’s previously hidden plan. For contrary to all human wisdom, Jesus’ death and resurrection will outwardly display the glory of God by revealing the true meaning of God’s previously hidden character – his justice and his love, his service and his power. God’s inner holiness, utter perfection and majestic power are revealed in Jesus’ death and resurrection. In this, Jesus is glorified and consequently brings glory to God the Father.

So he prays for resilience to stay on course and for reinstatement to his pre-incarnate glory. These are profound truths for us to ponder.

Prayer

All glory to you, our heavenly Father, for in your tender mercy you gave us your only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death on the cross for our redemption; who made there, by his one oblation of himself, once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world; and who instituted, and in his holy gospel commanded us to continue, a perpetual memory of his precious death until his coming again. (BCP, Prayer of Consecration – adapted)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 17:1-12

Day 32 (Thursday, April 11, 2019)

Read

John 16:25-27


25 “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. 26 On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”

Reflect

‘Why bother with prayer?’ Jesus’ words here lay an important foundation. We have the promise of a better understanding of God because Jesus and his Spirit have now spoken plainly about the Father. Further, we see that our prayers are effective because we can pray in the name of Jesus. We also enjoy a new experience of God because Jesus has opened the way to a new and intimate relationship with his Father – the Father himself loves you.

It is easy to underestimate the significance of these words. We overlook the fact that with the clearer understanding of God from the New Testament, we are much more likely to pray for the things that delight him and that he has promised to give us. Also, we forget that when we pray in the name of Jesus, we are praying to the one who has direct access to God. Further, we forget the privilege we have in speaking to God as Abba, Father. Like children confident in a parent’s love, we can enjoy a vital and personal relationship with the very best, most loving and most powerful of parents in the universe.

In this chapter, Jesus sets out implications of the drama that was about to unfold – his death, his resurrection, his departure and the coming of the Spirit. He wants us to know that if we consider prayer to be useless and a waste of time, we need to think again. If we think that prayer is a waste of breath, then we are living as if Easter and Pentecost had never occurred. We become spiritual paupers when we refuse the riches of God’s promises which are available to us.

Prayer

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: do not leave us desolate, but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to where our Savior Christ has gone before, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for evermore. Amen. (BCP, Sunday after Ascension)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 16:16-33

Day 31 (Wednesday, April 10, 2019)

One of the great mysteries for many about Christianity is the death of Jesus Christ. It also puzzled the disciples.  

During the hours before his arrest and death, Jesus sought to comfort them by telling them that he would not leave them bereft: he would send the Comforter who would also have a role in the wider world as the Advocate. The presence of this Comforter and Advocate was highly significant, for without his (the Spirit’s) involvement, Jesus’ disciples could not have fulfilled their special calling (for example, John 14:26). But nor would men and women come to respond to God’s good news unless God’s Spirit was active.

By way of background it is important that we remember Jesus’ words to his Jewish audience: “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe” (John 4:48). He was saying that he objected to performing signs because he knew what was in the hearts of people who asked for them: in their pride they thought they had a right to evaluate him, testing his credentials.

Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 1:22 Paul writes of the non-Jewish mind-set: Greeks desire wisdom, … The non-Jewish world may not have asked for signs, but they considered their philosophers to be smart enough to explain the world and life. If God existed, he would need to fit into their philosophical, scientific or political framework.

But God in his wisdom knows our propensities and, in his mercy, provided and continues to provide the very Advocate we need to open our eyes to the truth.

Read

John 16:4-11


4 (Jesus said…) ‘But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them. I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, “Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; 11 about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.’

Reflect

During the Passover meal Jesus told his disciples that he was going away but that he would not be leaving them alone. In fact his going would mean the coming of the Comforter, the Advocate. The disciples’ silence is palpable (16:5). They were devastated.

Yet through his death, which from a human perspective looks like failure, God has built a movement that will continue forever. In these hours before his crucifixion – which happened the following day – Jesus told his disciples that God would be awakening an unbelieving world to its spiritual need.

Jesus speaks of God’s Spirit as an Advocate: his work is like that of a prosecutor laying charges, though not in a court of law but rather in the human heart. The Spirit convicts the world of sin, defined now, not as failure to keep the Ten Commandments, but failure to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah. The Spirit also convicts the world of righteousness, defined by the moral goodness of Jesus’ life. Where human courts condemned Jesus, God has declared him righteous, giving him life.

Further, the Spirit alerts the world to the reality of judgment. And this is not some remote maybe. God’s Messiah has come and his kingdom is established. He has already confounded the attempt by powers of evil to usurp God’s rule. Everyone now has a choice to make – to side with the defeated enemy or commit to the victorious Jesus.

Jesus challenges us to draw comfort from God’s Spirit at work in our own lives, and to pray for the Spirit to work with mercy in the lives of people around us.

Prayer

God our Father, whose will is to bring all things to order and unity in our Lord Jesus Christ; grant that all the peoples of the world, now divided and torn apart by sin, may be brought together in his kingdom of love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (1978 AAPB)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 16:1-15