Christian Reflection and Prayer

"Don't Call Me a Sheep!"

March 14, 2015

Lenten Devotion 2015 cover

(Jesus said) "I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own
know Me." ... "and I lay down My life for the sheep" (John 10:14, 15b).

Read John 10:11-39.

In today's reading Jesus identifies Himself as our Good Shepherd.
This, of course, means that we are like sheep. That automatically
says two things about us: we are helpless creatures, and we have
powerful enemies against which we are defenseless. But are the
crowds willing to admit this-that they need Jesus to be their shepherd?

Jesus tells them He will freely lay down His life to save them from their
enemies. He will lay it down on Good Friday when He is nailed to the
cross and gives up His life for the sins of the world. But He will take it
up again on the third day when He rises in glorious victory.

The crowds hear this great news, and find themselves divided yet
again! Some say He has a demon, or He is insane. But others,
thinking how Jesus healed the man born blind, ask, "Can a demon
open the eyes of the blind?"

Jesus made some very bold statements about Himself and the work
He came to do. Few are as powerful or as comforting as these words.
Jesus Christ has been pleased to take us as His very own sheep, and
will guard us, protect us, lead us to good pasture, care for us in body
and soul and finally lead us through death to life everlasting.

Jesus stretches out His hand to you today. If you are His sheep, listen
to His voice, He will protect you from all enemies and guide you safely
home to paradise. He promises that nothing can snatch you out of His
hands.

THE PRAYER:

Lord Jesus, thank You for offering to hold me firmly and safely in Your
hands. Let me never wander away in unbelief. Amen.

Written by Rev. Wayne Palmer

Welcoming the Stranger

Last weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday”
Selma to Montgomery march, a historic moment for our country
as brave individuals marched toward the Alabama capital to fight
for the civil rights of African Americans to vote in the South. This
effort was met with violent resistance at the Edmund Pettus
Bridge as state troopers used teargas and nightsticks to beat
back the marchers.

This moment caught national attention and was instrumental in
passing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which banned racial
discrimination in voting, and also helped pave the path for many
justice movements that continue to this day.

Whether our fight is for racial, economic ,or environmental justice,
we are committed for the long haul to resisting the forces that
disenfranchise communities and seek to limit the rights of people.
As we remember Selma and continue our march for immigration
reform facing the resistant forces of today, we must remember
the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “The arc of the moral universe
is long, but it bends towards justice.”

In faith,

The Sojourners Immigration Team

Lenten Devotion

"Jesus said, 'For judgment I came into this world, that those
who do not see may see, and those who see may become
blind'" (John 9:39).

Read John 9:24-41.

Over and over again Jesus' light shone over the people around
Him through His words and His countless miracles. But the
Jewish leaders refused to see. Despite a thorough investigation
into Jesus' healing of the man born blind, they can find no way
to disprove the miracle. Still, they refuse to believe the evidence
right before them.

But Jesus isn't ready to give up on them yet. If they won't accept
the evidence, maybe they will listen to the man who had been
healed. In eloquent testimony the man told them, "If this man
were not from God, He could do nothing." But again, they
stubbornly refuse to see the light and answer, "You were born
in utter sin, and would you teach us?" Then they threw out the
man born blind.

Hearing that he had been thrown out, Jesus found him and
revealed Himself to him. Jesus told those around Him that He
came to give sight to the blind, and blindness to those who see.
Some Pharisees heard Him say this and asked if they were blind.
Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now
that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains."

That is a terrifying thought. These Jewish leaders had seen
overwhelming evidence time and again that Jesus is the promised
Savior, God's Son, yet they refused to believe. How much evidence
have we seen? How many Bible readings have we heard in services?
How many times have we received Holy Communion? Do we believe?

THE PRAYER:

Lord, You know the darkness within each of us, take away my
blindness and help me see Jesus clearly through the eyes of faith.
Amen.

Written by Rev. Wayne Palmer