Perfect Offering

•April 13, 2012 • Leave a Comment

The finding of a perfect gift is an art and a skill. Hitting on something that is appropriate both for the occasion and the recipient, something that captures the mood and the sentiment.

A Widow’s Offering

41 Jesus was sitting in the temple near the offering box and watching people put in their gifts. He noticed that many rich people were giving a lot of money. 42 Finally, a poor widow came up and put in two coins that were worth only a few pennies. 43 Jesus told his disciples to gather around him. Then he said:

I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 44 Everyone else gave what they didn’t need. But she is very poor and gave everything she had. Now she doesn’t have a cent to live on.

So what is our response to God?

As this series of Lent and Easter readings draws towards its close, how do we respond?

We have seen the new thing God is doing come to fruition in all that Jesus taught and lived, in his death on the cross, and in his rising again to life.  What does that mean to us?  How will we live from now on?  What do we have to give to him?  We cannot begin to match the offering he has made, but we can bring all that we have – all that we are to him, and offer it back.

This woman gave not what she had to spare, but everything she had – because God was worth it.

Consider today what you are going to do, what are you going to give, to the God who gave his all for you.

Lord,

when I thank on all that you have done for me,

I have nothing that  can offer

that begins to match it.

So,

as I come today,

I offer you

all that I have,

all that I am,

and all that I can be.

 I pray that you take it,

and can use me,

in the new thing you are doing

This year, I am again following the BigRead using Tom Wright’s Lent for Everyone – Mark.  I’ll reflect here – if you’re following it too, or even if you’re not, please share with me.

Posted in Easter, Jesus
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What’s Most Important

•April 12, 2012 • Leave a Comment

The Beatles told us that all you need is love

When Jesus is asked the question, what is most important, what is the first commandment above all the others, he replies:

The Most Important Commandment

28One of the teachers of the Law of Moses came up while Jesus and the Sadducees were arguing. When he heard Jesus give a good answer, he asked him, “What is the most important commandment?”

29Jesus answered, “The most important one says: `People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. 30You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ 31The second most important commandment says: `Love others as much as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is more important than these.”

32The man replied, “Teacher, you are certainly right to say there is only one God. 33It is also true that we must love God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and that we must love others as much as we love ourselves. These commandments are more important than all the sacrifices and offerings that we could possibly make.”

34When Jesus saw that the man had given a sensible answer, he told him, “You are not far from God’s kingdom.” After this, no one dared ask Jesus any more questions.

Jesus sums  it up as love.  Love God, love others and love yourself.  So this Kingdom of God’s that is beginning to grow, this new thing God is doing – love is what you need.  Without love it won’t work.  Jesus isn’t talking about sloppy sentimental love, he means the hard love of sacrifice, of walking the tough road together, of mopping fevered brows, of forgiving and forgetting – the love that costs and keeps on giving.  That is how God’s Kingdom works.

Jesus has set us the example.  He brought God’s love alive – can we follow the way he has shown us.

Can we love God, as we reflect on all he has done, all he continues to do?

Can we love ourselves?  Often the hardest part, but it was for the depth of his love for us that Jesus came into the world and showed us God’s ways.  He wanted to help us, for us to understand, and ultimately to die that we might know a life of forgiveness and love.

And if we live in these, can we then turn that to others and love them too?  When they hurt us, when they fail us – and when they love us.

Lord,

may the flame of your love

burn brightly in my heart.

As I delight in the knowledge

that you love me,

may that cause me to live in love for others.

May I live in love:

of you,

of myself,

and of my neighbour

near and far

This year, I am again following the BigRead using Tom Wright’s Lent for Everyone – Mark.  I’ll reflect here – if you’re following it too, or even if you’re not, please share with me.

Posted in Easter, Jesus, love
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From Small Seeds

•April 11, 2012 • Leave a Comment

I love this time of year, planting seeds.  They look so small and lifeless, yet within them they are pregnant with life, and soon shoots burst forth.

These are how ours are doing at the moment:

And then before you know it, you have fully grown plants producing fruit or flowers – all from that one tiny seed.  From something that is nothing to look at, something active and life-giving comes.  We don’t need to know how seeds grow and develop to know that they do.

Mark 4:26-33

Another Story about Seeds

26Again Jesus said:

God’s kingdom is like what happens when a farmer scatters seed in a field. 27The farmer sleeps at night and is up and around during the day. Yet the seeds keep sprouting and growing, and he doesn’t understand how. 28It is the ground that makes the seeds sprout and grow into plants that produce grain. 29Then when harvest season comes and the grain is ripe, the farmer cuts it with a sickle.

A Mustard Seed

30Finally, Jesus said:   What is God’s kingdom like? What story can I use to explain it? 31It is like what happens when a mustard seed is planted in the ground. It is the smallest seed in all the world. 32But once it is planted, it grows larger than any garden plant. It even puts out branches that are big enough for birds to nest in its shade.

The Reason for Teaching with Stories

33Jesus used many other stories when he spoke to the people, and he taught them as much as they could understand.

The Kingdom of God is not just the seed – it is what grows from that seed.  It is not faith in itself that is important – but what grows from it.  We can claim to have faith, and yet do nothing with it; or we can wonder at the size of our faith, yet use it for God’s good.  A seed looks so small, but what grows from it is productive and noticeable.

The Kingdom of God is pregnant with life, growth and produce.  It may look like nothing to some, it may sometimes feel like something very small and fragile when held in our own hands – but what can grow from it when it is planted and allowed to grow in our lives?

Lord,

sometimes my faith feels small and vulnerable,

I wonder that anything can come from it;

but I thank you that you do the growing,

that from even tiny seeds

large trees can grow.

So

today,

Lord I pray

that you will take the seed of my faith and help it to grow;

that you will grow your kingdom in me

and through me,

that your ways,

your new way,

may be seen

and may flourish

This year, I am again following the BigRead using Tom Wright’s Lent for Everyone – Mark.  I’ll reflect here – if you’re following it too, or even if you’re not, please share with me.

Posted in Easter, Jesus
Tags: , , ,

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