Red Letter Day - Behold your mother ~ Behold your son

Palm Sunday is the day we remember Jesus entering into the city of Jerusalem at the time of the Passover.  (John 12:12-15)  Jesus rides a donkey as a sign to the people that he was coming as the Messiah because that is what the prophet Zechariah had said hundreds of years earlier.  As we heard a few weeks ago, during his life, and even through his death, Jesus fulfilled many of the prophetic words spoken about the coming king of Israel.  Zechariah 9:9. Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

As Jesus made his way into the city, the crowds who had gathered celebrated Jesus' arrival by waving palm branches and placing them on the road in front of Jesus.  This was a sign that they believed Jesus was the Messiah and that He was coming to usher in the victory of God’s kingdom.  Jesus was coming to do just that, but He wasn’t going to overthrow the political or religious establishment, Jesus was coming to deliver the people from sin, and give them victory over death through his own death and resurrection.    

All of this takes place during the Passover which again is important because Passover was the celebration of God delivering his people from slavery.  If you remember the story, the people of Israel put the blood of a sacrificial lamb over the doorposts of their homes so the angel of death would “pass over” them.  The annual celebration of the Passover reminded the people that God had delivered them in the past and he would deliver them in the future.  Jesus came to Jerusalem at the Passover because he was coming to deliver people from sin and death.  

As Jesus came to Jerusalem, so did his disciples and some in his family.  We know his family came because a few days later, as Jesus hung on the cross, some of His family was there.  There would not have been enough time for them to get to Jerusalem after Jesus had been arrested, so they must have been there all along.  

It’s from the gospel of John that we hear members of Jesus' family were at the foot of the cross.  John 19:25-27.  Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

Before we look at these red letters of Jesus, let’s first look at the crowd gathered there.  Mary, the mother of Jesus is there, but so is Mary the wife of Clopas.  Early church tradition tells us that Clopas was the brother of Joseph, Mary’s husband.  Not much is known about Joseph.  He was there at the birth of Jesus, and he was there when Jesus was a child, but at some point during Jesus’ early life, he died.  When that happened, it would have been Joseph’s brothers who would have stepped in to care for Mary and her children.  That Clopas' wife is with Mary tells us that it is likely that they were the ones who took them in.  

Family really is the foundation of Jewish faith.  God commanded His people to honor their mother and father, and that commandment is the only one that came with a blessing: so that it might go well with you.  This command wasn’t given to young children so they would obey their parents, but for grown children so they would take care of their aging parents when they could no longer work or care for themselves.  In a world before pensions.  Social Security, and IRA’s, the only support and security older people had was family.  

Since the family of Clopas was with Mary and Jesus for the Passover, and now at the foot of the cross, it makes sense that they were the family that took Jesus in after Joseph died.  So it wasn’t just one mother at the foot of the cross, but in some sense - two. Two mothers were there watching their son die and there is nothing worse than this.  There is probably no pain greater than losing a child.  

A good friend of mine from High School was nine months pregnant when she realized she hadn’t felt her baby move.  The umbilical cord had wrapped around his neck and the baby had died.  It was a devastating time and just last week she remembered her son with a post on facebook.  You never forget that pain and loss.  

In Lewisburg there was an woman in my church who had three grown children.  Margaret’s only daughter died of cancer before I arrived, but her two sons both died while I was there.  When I told her that her final son had died, she said, it’s not supposed to be like this.  Her heart ached for all three of her children.  

No matter the age or circumstances, the pain of losing a child is deep and lasting.  I know many of you have had to go through this loss, and my guess is that today you are tapping into your own pain, and the pain that Mary must have been experiencing.  What is amazing to me is that even in the midst of His own physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering, Jesus saw that pain and he did something about it.  That’s what this message is all about.  

When Jesus says, woman behold your son, He wasn’t telling her to focus on Him, but the son who would now take care of her, His best friend John.  We know this because right after Jesus said this He said to John, behold your mother.  Jesus not only sees His mother in pain and wants to comfort her, but He sees John in pain as well.  John, along with the rest of the disciples, was going to be devastated by the death of Jesus.  His world was going to be turned upside down and in this moment Jesus sees his fear, uncertainty, and the pain of loss and reaches out to comfort his friend by telling him to love and be loved by his mother 

We need to learn from these red letters that what will help heal our own hearts in times of pain and loss will be reaching out to love others.  Too often during times of loss we want to guard and protect our hearts so we tell ourselves that we will never love again, but it is actually in learning to love and care for others again that we find healing and hope and life.  

It’s also important to allow others to love and care for us during these times.  We need it both ways.  Mary needed John to love and care for her, but she also needed to reach out to love and care for him.  John needed the same thing.  We need the same thing.  We need the love and care of others and we need to reach out to love and care for others if we are going to experience the fullness of life.  

We are reminded here that God did not create us to live life alone, but in relationship.  First, we are to have a relationship with God, and that is made possible for us by Jesus' actions on the cross, but we are also to have a relationship with the people of God, and that is made possible by Jesus' words from the cross.  Jesus is asking us to form a family by reaching out to love one another, and not to love with just feelings and emotions but in how we live.  Jesus said, a new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.  John 13:34-35

Jesus said, as I have loved you so you must love one another.  The love of Jesus gave everything it had.  It’s a love that is best symbolized by the cross where Jesus laid down his life, and this is the example of how we are to love one another in the church.  

Here at Faith Church we often talk about living out our faith in the context of three primary relationships, a relationship with God, the church, and the world.  Each of these relationships is characterized by different rhythms, and the rhythms that need to shape our relationships in the church are these: 

accountability, generosity, community, service, family.  

We are to be accountable to one another, which in part means being willing to be counted on in times of need.  Accountability is not only being there for others but it is also allowing others to speak into our lives and care for us when they see that things may not be going well.  We are to be generous with one another and not hold back when we see needs among God’s people.  We are to be a true community where we welcome everyone and care for those most in need among us, and we are to serve one another sacrificially.  While all of this needs to start in our families, it then needs to flow into the family of God.    

These red letters of Jesus are telling us that we need to be intentional about making those we see around us part of our family.  There are so many ways we can do this.  We can support those in our church who choose to be foster parents because they are truly doing what Jesus calls us do in these words.  They are being mothers and fathers to those who need them, and those who need a safe place and good role models.  Let’s also care for single parents, and let’s not forget single people in general.  

As a single pastor, one of the blessings I have experienced is to be considered part of people’s families.  As part of a family, I have walked with people in good times and bad times, and I have been welcomed with great love and care.  What I wish would happen is that every single person in the life of the church, young or old, might be able to experience the same thing.  The church can truly become a family for those who often feel isolated and alone in the world.  

And we can’t forget our fathers and mothers, whether they are our biological parents or spiritual ones.  One of the challenges for my family during covid was that my parents live in CT, but I live in PA, and I have a sister in OH, and a sister in VA.  We were not able to go and check on our parents during the past year, and my parents didn’t want to go to the grocery store, so we were struggling to figure out how to care for them.  In talking about this with Barb and Don Reed, they reminded me that their son Jon lived right down the road.  They said, we’re sure he would be happy to help out.  

When we contacted Jon to see if he would be willing to run to the grocery store for our parents, he said yes.  I’m not sure he knew that first run to the store would turn into a year’s worth of shopping, but he took seriously the call of the church to be a family.  He and his family embraced a lifestyle of generosity, community, service, and family and they were faithful and dependable, we could count on them.  There is no way we can repay Jon and his family for all they have done - and let me be clear, they aren’t looking for it.  What I realized, however, is that while I can’t repay them, I can pay it forward and try to be that son to another mother or father.  

I know that many of you have done this same thing in the past year.  You have worked hard to take care of those around you, especially those who didn’t have family in the area to help them.  As we move beyond our covid lockdowns, I pray we will not stop reaching out to care for those around us and that we will keep working on ways to truly make others part of our family.  

While these red letter words, spoken by Jesus from the cross, are often overlooked, in many ways they are the words that helped form the church, and they remind us what our relationships with one another needs to look like.  May we truly be the family that Jesus sought to create, and may we deeply and sacrificially love one another.  

Next Steps

Behold your mother.  Behold your son.

Read John 19:25-27.

What do you think was going through Mary and John’s minds and hearts at this time?  

Reflect on the love and compassion seen in Jesus as He reached out through His pain to care for those He loved.  

● What pain are you experiencing today?  

● How can it help to know that Jesus truly sees you and is reaching out to help you?  

With these words, Jesus creates the family of God.

● In what ways have you been able to experience true family relationships within the life of the church?  

● Where have you seen the church truly care for and provide for one another like a family?

How can these words shape our lives, our family, and our church?

● Who have you been able to care for like family?

● Who do you see that needs your support and care?

● What one person can you reach out to this week to include them in your family, or to care for them like family?

● How can you support foster children and families, single parents, singles (young or old), or shut-ins without family in the area?

Check out the 3 Relationships

Learn how to deepen your relationship with the church

Red Letter Day - It Is Finished

 As we continue to look at the red letters of Jesus, particularly the words He spoke from the cross, we are going to pick up where we left off last week.  Last week, after hours of being denied sleep, food, and water, after being physically beaten, tortured, and then nailed to a cross, Jesus was physically dehydrated.  As a man, He was in the process of dying and said, I thirst.  While Jesus was physically thirsty, there was also a spiritual battle taking place.  Jesus had taken on the sin of the world and that sin separated Him from His father, so He not only thirsts for water but as the Psalmist says, He thirsts for God.  

What we often don’t see on the cross is this spiritual battle.  In his book, Basic Christianity, John Stott talks about the battle this way.  [Jesus] was bearing our sins.  And God who is “of purer eyes than to behold evil” and “cannot look on wrong” turned away his face.  Our sins came between the Father and the Son.  The Lord Jesus Christ, who was eternally with the Father, who enjoyed unbroken communion with him through his life on earth, was thus momentarily abandoned.  Our sins sent Christ to hell.  He tasted the torment of a soul estranged from God.  Bearing our sin, he died our death.  He endured instead of us the penalty of separation from God which our sins deserve.  Then at once, he emerged from that outer darkness, he cried in triumph, “It is finished.”  

The sins of the world were borne.  Reconciliation to God was available to all who would trust this Savior for themselves and receive him as their own.  

This is the spiritual battle we don’t see.  Jesus is taking on all our sin and redeeming the world.  He is paying the price for our sin, which is separation from God, so that we don’t have to, and these three words tell us that the battle is over.  It is finished.  

Actually, it is just one word in Greek, tetelestai, which was most often used on business documents.  When a bill had been paid in full, tetelestai would be written across it.  Nothing more was needed.  Everything had been paid for.  So the debt of sin had been paid for.  Jesus had done everything needed for forgiveness and redemption; nothing more was needed.  The world was redeemed and all people had to do was trust Jesus as their savior.  All we have to do is trust Jesus as our Savior.  

But why did Jesus say these words only after the hyssop branch with sour wine had been offered to Him?  John 19:30.  When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.”  Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.  Was there something special or important about Jesus receiving the wine?  Did that need to take place before all things were finished?  

Jesus' death and resurrection had always been God’s plan of salvation and the details of that plan had been spoken of by the prophets hundreds of years before Jesus.  There are literally dozens of prophecies that Jesus fulfilled during his life, but He also fulfilled many of them in His death.  Each prophetic word fulfilled helped people then, and now, see that Jesus truly is the Messiah, the Son of God.  Let’s look at some of these prophecies.  

Psalm 41:9 - Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.

Zechariah 13:7 - Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.

Isaiah 53:3 - He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.  Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Isaiah 50:6 - I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.

Isaiah 53:12 - because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. 

Isaiah 53:5 - But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Psalm 22:7-8 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.  “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him.”

Psalm 22:16 - A pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.

Psalm 22:18 - They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

Psalm 22:1 - My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Psalm 34:20 - He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.

Psalm 69:21 - They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.  

While I’m sure Jesus wasn’t counting off all the prophecies that needed to be fulfilled, was there something in Him that just knew this was the final one.  Not only had all sin been redeemed but God’s plan in making it happen had now been fulfilled.  Every detail had now been accomplished and all prophecy had been fulfilled.  Nothing more was needed for salvation, nothing more is needed for salvation.  All we have to do is accept it.  All we have to do is trust Jesus as our savior.  His work is done, but our work is not yet finished.  

Let me be clear, there is no work needed on our part of salvation!  The Apostle Paul makes that clear when he says,  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—  not the result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9  

But he then goes on and makes it clear that our work is not yet finished.  For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.  Ephesians 2:10

And in his letter to the Philippians, Paul again reminds us that our work is not yet done.  I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.  Philippians 1:6

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14

Our unfinished business is not just to experience more of the freedom and power that comes through God’s grace, but to live our lives with more purpose.  Are we doing all that God has called us to do?  Am I sharing the love of God in the unique setting God has placed me?  Am I committed to the work of God and pressing on to that goal?  Before you answer that question, let me ask, do you know the work God has for you?  

A few weeks ago David talked about our own unique calling and how God has filled us with passion and gifts that need to come together so that we are doing what God has called us alone to do.  We need to be clear on what the work is so that we can commit ourselves to it.  Knowing God’s work for us isn’t a once and done exercise, it is an ongoing process of asking God, what do you have for me now?  And now?  And now?  The work God has for us in our teens might be very different from the work God has for us when we retire.  At each stage of life, with each triumph and tragedy, we need to ask God, what do you have for me now?  

Paul talked about pressing on toward the goal, and completing the work God had for him while he was in prison.  His circumstances had changed dramatically since he started in ministry, but his commitment to serving God and preaching the gospel never changed.  Are we committed to the work God has for us?   

Commitment to God’s work is the first step, the second step to take the next step.  Take the next step, and then the next step, and then the next step…  Last week I mentioned hiking out of the woods after I had hit the wall.  I had nothing left so literally just walked to the next tree, then the next tree, then the next tree, until I was out of the woods.  I have to think there was a moment like this for Jesus on this red letter day.  

Jesus had been beaten, whipped, and spit upon.  A crown of thorns had been pressed onto His head, and a cross placed on His shoulders.  Jesus was forced to walk to the place of His crucifixion, and at times He stumbled and cried out to those who lined the streets.  I imagine Jesus simply moving forward one step at a time, literally focusing on the next step.  What is the next step God is asking you to take?  

If God is calling you to experience the freedom that comes when you get out of addiction, or get out of debt, what is the next step you need to take?   If God is calling you to improve your marriage. or become a more faithful parent, what is the next step you need to take?  If God is calling you to learn more about Jesus and the salvation that He achieved for us on the cross, what is the next step?  If the work God is calling you to is sharing your faith with others, what is the next step?  All God asks us to do is take the next step - not every step.  Just the next step.  

Psalm 119:105.  Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.  God doesn’t show us the entire path, He shows us what we need for the next step.  That’s probably a good thing because if we knew the entire journey, we might not want to take it, but if we just have to take the next step, and trust God for this moment and the next, we might find ourselves doing more than we ever thought was possible.  

The work of Jesus is finished.  Tetelestai.  The debt is paid.  Sin is forgiven and we are redeemed.  There is nothing more needed, but our work is not yet done, so we press on.  We commit to following God each new day, and we trust Him for all we need to take the next faithful step.  

 

Next Steps

Red Letter Day - It Is Finished

Read John 19:28-30.  What work was Jesus doing on the cross?  What spiritual battle is taking place that we don’t see?

What was finished when Jesus said, tetelestai?

The prophets told us many of the details of Jesus' final day.  How does the fulfillment of these prophecies help us believe in Jesus as the Savior?  How might they have helped people in Jesus’ day?  

How were all these prophecies fulfilled in Jesus' final day?

● Zechariah 13:7 

● Isaiah 50:6

● Isaiah 52:14

● Isaiah 53:3, 5, 14

● Psalm 22:1, 16, 18 

● Psalm 22:7-8 

● Psalm 34:20

● Psalm 41:9

● Psalm 69:21

Jesus' work is finished, ours is not.  

What work do you need to “commit” to in your:

● Life - so you look more like Jesus and experience more of His grace and power?

● Faith - so you are growing deeper in your knowledge and relationship with God?

● Service - so you are putting your gifts and passions to work in the church and world?

What “next step” do you need to take in each of the areas above?  

Red Letter Day - I Thirst

For many years I spent my vacations hiking in the Smoky Mountains.  One day I was really excited to hike in a part of the park that I had never been to before.  I planned the day and took all my supplies for what I thought was a 7-8 mile loop hike.  When I got to the first stop, a fire tower, I thought, wow that took me longer than I thought.  It was no real problem because that had been the uphill section that would have been more strenuous and time consuming, it was all going to be downhill from there.  I set off after lunch and while the next big section was downhill, it was downhill through an old dry riverbed which meant climbing over boulders in the direct sunlight.  That took me most of the afternoon.   

When I finally made a turn and started to head back to the trailhead, I realized something was wrong.  I had already gone well over 8 miles and I was nowhere close to being done.  I got out the map and calculated the hike again and realized I was off, by a lot.  The hike wasn’t 8 miles, it was closer to 15 and I had a long way to go.  I had no water left, one granola bar, and I was already hot and tired.  I had no choice but to keep going, but I got slower and slower.  Soon I started to feel pretty sick.  

I finally sat down on a log and contemplated just sleeping in the woods for the night because I had completely crashed.  As I sat there, I picked out a tree down the trail and hiked to that tree, and then sat down again.  I kept going this way for hours because I knew that if I could make it back to my car, I had several bottles of water.  When I finally saw my car in the distance, I was a mess.  I was exhausted, sick to my stomach, sunburned, dehydrated, and barely able to walk, and if you had asked me how it was going, I would have said, I Thirst.  

It’s one of the few times in my life when I was completely empty of everything.  I was not only physically thirsty, but hungry, exhausted, alone, and scared because of how bad I felt and unsure if I would even make it back to my car at all.  Those two words expressed so much, and those are two words that Jesus said as he hung on the cross.  I thirst.  

We are in a series called red letter day because in many Bibles the words of Jesus are printed in red ink, but these final words of Jesus were spoken while his red blood was literally flowing down the cross.  After hours of hanging on the cross, Jesus spoke these two words, and since that red letter day, people have been asking, what did He mean?  Was He really just thirsty - or was there something more going on?  While these words are packed with meaning, I also think Jesus was physically thirsty.

Think of all that Jesus had just been through.  He had been betrayed in the middle of the night and then hauled before religious and political leaders until noon the next day.  He had no sleep, no food, and no water.  He was exhausted and dehydrated.  He was then subjected to severe beatings which meant he lost more fluid and a lot of blood.  When it came time to nail Him to the cross, which He carried to Golgotha, Jesus was physically exhausted and completely empty.  Jesus was physically thirsty and in these two words we hear the humanity of Jesus come through. 

If you have ever sat with a loved one who was dying, you know that they often get very thirsty.  Family, friends, or maybe a nurse will often bring those little swabs that you can soak in water and then place in their mouth so that the worst of the thirst is satisfied.  This is part of what is going on with Jesus.  He is a man physically dying and in these words we see His humanity.  Jesus was thirsty.  While He was the Son of God, the word of God incarnate, literally God in human form, He was also a man, and these words remind us that Jesus suffered just like we do.  He knows what it's like to be empty and thirsty and alone and scared, just like we do.   We can find comfort in knowing that Jesus knows our pain, we are not alone.

As much as Jesus is physically thirsty, there is more going on here.  This cry reminds us of Psalm 42:1-3. 

  As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When shall I come and behold the face of God?  My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, “Where is your God?”

A thirst for God is also what Jesus longs for.  John 19:28-29

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I thirst.”  A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth.

John says that Jesus knew that everything had been finished, which means that Jesus had taken on Himself the sin of the world, and the penalty for that sin was separation from God.  So Jesus isn’t just physically thirsty, He is longing for His Father.  An eternal relationship between Father and Son had been broken and Jesus thirsts for God.   Just as He cried out, My God, My God why have you forsaken me, when our sin separated Jesus from the Father, so now He cries out,   thirst… for God.   As the deer longs of water, so Jesus is longing for His Father.  When will He once again behold the face of His Father.  

In this moment, Jesus is longing for God, and these 7 red letters, I Thirst, lead me to ask, what is it that I thirst for in life?  What is it that I long for?  Am I longing for more of God or more of the world?  Jesus said, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, but is righteousness what we thirst for?  Do we long for a right relationship with God, and a relationship with God that grows deeper and more personal day by day?  Do we long for right relationships with those around us?  Do we work for reconciliation and peace?  Do we freely offer and receive forgiveness?  Do we long for and work for righteousness in the world or do we just long to fill ourselves up with things that will benefit us?  Are we thirsting for God and God’s kingdom, or do we want things like wealth, power, success, and security.  What do we really thirst for?

As I was alone and hiking through the growing dusk of the Smoky Mountains, I had one focus - the water that I knew was in my car.  If I could just get to that water, I would be ok.  If I could drink that water, I would be strengthened and healed.  I have asked myself this week, why don’t I live with that same drive and desire for living water?  And is there a way I can increase my thirst for God?  

I want to share three things we can focus on this week that can increase our thirst for God.  The first is Humility.  As long as we think we have it all together and know all the answers, we will never thirst for God.  As long as we rely upon our own wisdom, our own strength, our own abilities, we will never thirst for God.  If we are constantly filling ourselves up we will never thirst for God.  God tells us this in Jeremiah 2:13, My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

Drinking from our own wells, or trusting in our strength, wisdom, and power will always leave us empty, but thirsting for God, turning to God for living water is what fills us up.  So let’s stop trying to do it all on our own and humble ourselves before God.  

This week, let’s take a good solid look at our lives and own up to our own shortcomings and sin.  Let’s not look to blame others for our failures, or make excuses for the ways we have failed to be who God has called us to be, let’s acknowledge both our sin and our need, our thirst, for a savior.  

One of the first things Adam and Eve did after they disobeyed God was to blame someone else for their problems.  Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent, and as long as they were blaming someone else, they couldn’t see their need for God.  As long as we hold onto pride, we are hiding from God, but if we can humble ourselves and confess our sin, then we start seeing the need we have for God’s grace.  While it’s not easy to reflect on our shortcomings, and own up to and confess our sin, it is how we begin to empty ourselves and start thirsting for God.  

A second thing we can practice to increase our thirst for God is Gratitude.  One of the interesting things about gratitude is that once we begin to give thanks for who God is, and what God has done for us and given us, the more we see of who God is, and what God has done for us and given to us.  So to help us see more of God and thirst more for God, let’s begin to thank God for what we see and what we have.  Even in the midst of all the frustrations and limitations we are facing, let’s keep giving thanks and allow God to show us more of who He is.  

The third thing that can help increase our thirst for God is Service. What is interesting about serving others is that it both humbles us and makes us more grateful.  I have never come back from any kind of mission trip, or time of serving others, without being grateful for all God has given me, and humbled by how much I take for granted.  Serving those in need, or serving in the church, draws us closer to God and at the same time increases our desire to be closer to God. 

Serving others also begins to place the lives and needs of others before our own, it is a way of emptying ourselves so that we thirst more for God.  While covid once again has limited our ability to serve, I would invite you to consider one way you and your family might be able to serve over the next few weeks.  Help a neighbor, or reach out to someone who lives alone and encourage them.  

Maybe serving others can mean financially supporting a mission.  Something we could all do for the next 4 weeks is to think about how much money we spend on drinks during the month and then give that same amount to the food bank to help feed those who are hungry, or to a well drilling program to help provide clean water for those in need.  I am always amazed at how giving and serving opens up in me a deeper desire to connect to God, and know more of God’s love and grace and be part of God’s power at work in the world.   Serving helps us truly thirst for God.  

Thirsting for God doesn’t have to come only when we are in a crisis.  It doesn’t have to come when we hit rock bottom, or feel separated from God.  Thirsting for God can and should be an ongoing part of our lives as we humble ourselves, give thanks, and serve others.  If this can be our focus each and every day, not only will we thirst for God, but that thirst will be quenched by living water.  

Next Steps

Red Letter Day - I Thirst

When have you been completely empty, dehydrated, or thirsty?  

Read John 19:28-30

List all the things that led to Jesus being physically thirsty?

What does the phrase “knowing that everything had now been finished” mean?  What had been finished?  What did that mean for Jesus?  

In what ways do you currently thirst for God?

How do you currently hunger and thirst for righteousness?  (See Matthew 5:6)

Three ways to develop a thirst for God:

Humility

● Spend time reflecting on your sin.  (Don’t get caught up in shame or guilt but use this time to see your need for a Savior)

● Where do you tend to blame others instead of accepting responsibility?

Thanksgiving

● Make a list each day of what you are thankful for.  

● Give thanks to God for all you identify.

● How can your gratitude lead to humility and service?

Service

● How can you and your family serve someone this week?

● Consider making a donation to the food bank or to well drilling in Sierra Leone between now and Easter.