![]() There is a famous line from the movie Cool Hand Luke. The prison warden is speaking to the prisoner, Luke, trying to teach him that resistance will only get him in trouble. The warden recognizes that Luke is obviously going to be a stubborn prisoner who refuses to give up, and says to him, "What we've got here is failure to communicate." In some ways it seems to me that is where we are in the United States between various groups. We could cite Democrats and Republicans, pro-life and pro-choice, in favor of gay marriage and against gay marriage, pro- and anti-Confederate flag wavers, climate changers and deniers, and even Texans vs. the U.S. military. The issues are many and complicated. We not only don't communicate well, we also don't believe the other side has good intentions or is telling the truth. So it is not just a failure to communicate but a failure to trust. It is a sad state to be in because open, honest, and trusting dialog is important in society. However, it is not a new problem in the U.S. or elsewhere. If it were we would never have had all the wars we have had. Paul had a bit of the same problem in Corinth. He recognized that people didn't always understand him even though he made the effort to speak clearly. In 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 he explains that he didn't speak to them with great eloquence or wisdom, but he came in the power of the Spirit so that the truth of his message did not rest on his powers of persuasion but on the power of God. Spiritual truths need to be expressed with the power of the Spirit and with spiritual words. Otherwise, "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor 2:14). Perhaps what we need now in public discourse is a prophet who can speak the truths of God with the power of the Spirit so that the world can understand. Let us pray. Come, Lord Jesus, send out your Spirit. Renew the face of the earth. Send prophets today like the prophets of old. But let us not have hardened hearts and closed minds. Help us to hear your truth and walk in it.
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![]() Jesus is in the house! As we saw in yesterday's post, in Luke's Gospel, Jesus' standing up and reading from Isaiah in the synagogue is the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. He then goes out to start fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy, as he said he would do. He teaches with authority (Luke 4:31-32, 36); he frees a man possessed by a demon (4:33-35); he heals many people (4:38-41); he preaches the good news to all who would listen (4:42-44). Jesus does not ask us to do anything for which he did not give us an example. And just as he did not do things in his own strength, he does not want us to do things on our own strength. He had the authority of the Father and the power of the Spirit to preach, to free, to heal. He prayed before he began his ministry, he prayed all during his ministry, he continues to intercede for us before the Father (Romans 8:34). For Reflection: If Jesus needed to pray, how much more so do I need to pray? Let us pray. Jesus, you set the example. You laid out the mission. You showed us how to accomplish it - through our prayer, with the authority of the Father, empowered by the Holy Spirit and your own intercession. It is in partnership with you that we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). You are the source, the holy one. ![]() I've been asked to explain why I believe so strongly in Christian healing. There are several reasons. The first, as I've pointed out before, is that Jesus healed everyone who came to him in faith asking for it. There is no record in the Scripture that he turned anyone away. Jesus said that this was part of his mission. In Luke 4:16-21 we have the occasion when Jesus was teaching in the synagogue in Nazareth, his home town. He read from Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people. Then Jesus proceeds to do just that in his ministry. The second is that he told his disciples to go and do likewise. Matthew records it as (10:7-8), "Go and preach, 'The Kingdom of heaven is near!' Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, heal those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases, and drive out demons." Luke has Jesus sending the disciples out twice. In Luke 9:1-5, Jesus sends out the 12. Giving them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, he sends them out to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. In Luke 10, Jesus sends out 72 more men to do the same. The third reason is that the disciples were successful in healing people. Mark says, "So they went out and preached that people should turn away from their sins. They drove out many demons and rubbed olive oil and many sick people and healed them." (Mark 6:12-13). Luke tells us about the 12, "The disciples left and traveled through all the villages, preaching the Good News and healing people everywhere." (Luke 9:6) The 72 sent out in chapter 10 return to report (10:17), "Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we gave them a command in your name!" Then Jesus rejoices at their success and gives praise to his Father (Luke 10:18-24). Three reasons are enough for today, but there are more. Let us pray with Jesus today the prayer of praise upon the return of the 72 (Luke 10:21). "Father, Lord of heaven and earth! I thank you because you have shown to the unlearned what you have hidden from the wise and learned. Yes, Father, this was how you were pleased to have it happen." ![]() This time of advent, of waiting, of expectation, of praying for the Kingdom to come is not one of passivity. No, we are actively preparing for the arrival of the Kingdom of God on earth, for the second coming of Christ for all. We do this because he wants all to be saved and none to be lost (1 Timothy 2:4). This theme of Kingdom expectation (which has gone on much longer in this blog than I expected) can be traced throughout the Scriptures as we have seen over the last several weeks. It permeates the Old Testament. It threads its way through Jesus and his teachings and prayers. It turns up consistently in Paul's letters. This expectation, this hope, leads us not to sit back and watch, but to go forth and do. All will not be saved if each of us does not do our part. Some are preachers; some are preparers, some are pray-ers (Ephesians 4:11-12). We each have our assignment. The Kingdom of God depends on us. God is waiting too. For reflection: How well have I been fulfilling my assignment from God? Let us pray. Come, Holy Spirit. Fill my heart. Set it on fire for you. Renew me. Empower me every day to do what you expect. Renew the face of the earth. ![]() Having escaped from Damascus with his life, Saul heads to Jerusalem where he is not welcomed. The disciples in Jerusalem are still afraid of the notorious man and doubt his conversion. Poor Saul is not accepted until Barnabas comes from Damascus to vouch for him. So then Saul begins to preach in Jerusalem, and before long the Jews there are trying to kill him just as the Jews in Damascus were. So the other disciples send him home to Tarsus (Acts 9:23-30). The disciples in these early days had the wisdom to know when it was time to flee and when it was time to stand. Although Stephen had stood his ground and been stoned, it was not time for the other disciples to do so. For reflection: Do I have the discernment to know when it is time to speak and when to keep silent? When to stay and when to go? When to stand my ground and when to leave the field and live to witness another day? Let us pray. Lord Jesus, I place my life and my times in your hands. Lead me where I should go and keep me from where I should not be. Grant me the wisdom and discernment to hear your voice and to follow it. ![]() What else do we know about Philip who witnessed to the Ethiopian? He was one of the 7 men chosen by the apostles to handle the daily food distribution for those who needed it. These 7 deacons (another of whom was Stephen) were chosen because they were "known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom" (Acts 8:3). This administrative matter of the food was obviously important, but it was not all they did. Stephen preached and worked miracles (and was later stoned to death). The persecution following Stephen's murder caused the new believers in Jesus to spread out away from Jerusalem. Philip went to Samaria where he proclaimed the good news about Jesus, worked miracles, cast out demons, and healed people with physical disabilities. Many Samaritans became believers and were baptized. As we've already seen, one day Philip heard the Spirit speaking to him, followed the Spirit's leading and witnessed to an Ethiopian, led him to Christ and baptized him. When Philip finished that divine appointment, he was miraculously transported to another town far away. He preached all around that area, eventually settling in Caesarea. He is mentioned once again in Acts 21:8-9 where he is called Philip the evangelist. By that time he had four unmarried daughters who were prophets. Philip is a relatively minor figure in Acts and yet look at what he did. He began his service as a deacon in charge of the food pantry but had to flee persecution. He settled in Samaria among people not his own where he had to start over in life. Still he found time to speak about Jesus. God found he was movable. First to Samaria, then in one day to where the Ethiopian was and after that to the western area of the country. So in one day he was moved many miles and again left everything behind. He evangelized and worked miracles in that new area, eventually settling in Caesarea where he established his family. For reflection: Am I movable? If God called me to move, would I? How attached am I to my current situation? Am I movable on any given day to be able to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit? Let us pray. Lord Jesus, I want to be attached more to you than to things or to places. I want to have a movable spirit each day so that you can move me to do what you want. ![]() How would you like it if someone called you "stiff-necked?" Or referred to you as "you people?" Stephen didn't mince words when he spoke to the Sanhedrin. He is giving them a scolding. In fact, he sounded just like my mother when he said, "You are just like your fathers!" (Acts 7:51). Let's tune in to his speech: "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him -- you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it." Stephen has pulled out all the stops in his criticism. He has brought up the covenant with Abraham (uncircumcised), the covenant with Moses (the law and the deliverance from Egypt), and the prophets. He may even have brought up the teaching of Jesus when he said, "You always resist the Holy Spirit" (see Mark 3:29; also see Luke 20:9-19). The Sanhedrin are angry enough at this tirade when Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, has a vision of an open heaven: "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56). It is more than they can bear. In their eyes he has blasphemed. They drag him outside the city gates and stone him without a trial. For reflection: Have I been stiff-necked? Am I not hearing God? Am I not listening to someone else? Have I criticized my child by saying, "You are just like your father/mother!"? Let us pray. All-loving Father, I want to be just like you. Help me to hear you when you speak to me directly and when you speak to me through others. ![]() It strikes me as odd that the first martyr for preaching about Jesus was not one of the 12 apostles. Instead it was Stephen who is not even mentioned in Acts until 6:5. He is one of the men chosen to handle the daily distribution of food for widows, orphans and any others who had been cut off from their families. Stephen is full of faith, God's grace, the Holy Spirit and power. He did "great wonders and miraculous signs among the people" (6:8), and the Spirit gave him the words he needed when he spoke and debated with Jews and their leaders. In this short story (Acts 6:8 - 8:1) we see the fulfillment of promises made by Jesus. Jesus said, "When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say" (Luke 12:11). And at his ascension, Jesus said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Stephen experienced the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit enabling him to preach, debate and witness in addition to working wonders and miraculous signs. Also, the stoning of Stephen led to the followers of Jesus being scattered from Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria. The promises had not been made just to the 12, but to all those who would come after them. Stephen's tongue had been stilled, but 100 more tongues set afire. For reflection: The promises have been made to me as much as to the original 12 apostles. How have I experienced them in my life? Let us pray. Come, Holy Spirit, fill me as you filled Stephen. Yesterday at Church we sang the song in the YouTube feature below. It summarizes much of what we have been considering and praying about for the last month - the disciples earliest attempts to live out the commands of Jesus after they were empowered at the Ascension and Pentecost. For a Scripture to meditate on with it, I suggest Luke 4:18-19 There are several versions of this song on YouTube. I liked the pictures with this one the best. Song and lyrics of 'The Summons', or 'Will you come and follow Me'. Words, John L. Bell & Graham Maule, copyright (c) 1987 WGRG, Iona Community, Glasgow G2 3DH, Scotland. Website: wgrg.co.uk. ![]() If we look to the early church for evidence of what it means to be a disciple or follower of Jesus, we see several things. They prayed daily in the temple and elsewhere. They fellowshipped and took communion together. They lived in common or at least saw to each other's needs as they grew into a larger group. They attracted new believers through preaching, healing and miracles. The healings and miracles served to confirm the fact that the power of Jesus, who had been crucified and was risen from the dead, was now with his disciples. Healings and miracles were not for the sake of showing power, but so that people would be drawn to listen to the gospel. After hearing the good news, people were being baptized and their sins forgiven. Lives were changing. The gospel still has the power to change lives today if we are not afraid or reluctant to share it with other people. If coming to have a personal relationship with Jesus is the best thing that ever happened to us, why do we hesitate to tell others about him? We don't want to be pushy about it, though, as Peter says, "Always be prepared to given an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15). For reflection: Do I have my answer ready if someone asks me? Let us pray. Lord Jesus, you promised to give us all that we need and to give us words when we need them. I am trusting in your promises. I need boldness, gentleness, respect and the right words. |
AliceI started this website and blog on May 1, 2012. I am a Catholic who has been in ministry for many years. I first developed what I would call a close relationship with Jesus in the early 1970s. Ever since then I have been praying with people for healing and other needs. It is because I have seen so many of these prayers answered that I am so bold as to offer to pray for you individually through this website and phone line. Archives
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