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2025 On Being Open To The Spirit 1 4 25 Things That Bind Us: Fruitfulness Towards God 4 9 25 2024 Stones Or Bread? 2 22 24 2023 Water Jars And Wine 3 3 23 The Homelessness Of God 12 26 23 |
2022 The Real Gifts Of The Magi 1 5 22 Choices 3 8 22 Preparing The Way 12 27 22 |
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Christmastide - Saturday, January 4, 2025 |
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Scripture: Luke 3:8 & 17-18 (REB) – “Prove your repentance by the fruit you bear…” “His winnowing-shovel is ready in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and gather the wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn on a fire that can never be put out.” Message: The imagery of how chaff was separated from the wheat grain in pre-mechanized days gives a vivid picture of the impact John the Baptist felt Jesus would have on the lives of those who were prepared to listen to him, Jesus as the farmer tossing the wheat into the air to allow the breeze to blow the chaff away from the fruitful grain. We are all like the wheat when brought in from the field, a mixture of good grain and chaff which, if we truly open ourselves – warts and all – to the teachings and example of Jesus will expose the chaff within us to the working of the Holy Spirit and purify our lives. This demands great honesty and courage to reflect on the self-centeredness of our ways of life in comparison to the self-sacrificial life of Jesus and to be prepared to allow our ways of life to be changed. The question is: are we really ready to be tossed into the air and allow those things in our lives which diminish our fruitfulness before God to be blown away by His purifying Spirit and sacrificed in His name? Prayer: Loving and generous God, each and every day, give me the courage to be completely honest before You; and allow Your purifying Spirit to cleanse me of my self-centeredness, so that I may follow the Jesus Way ever more closely. Amen.
Mike
Evans |
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Wednesday, April 9, 2025 |
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Scripture: Luke 13:10-17 (NRSV) – “Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, ‘Woman, you are set free from your ailment.’ When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, ‘There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day. But the Lord answered him and said, ‘You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound for eighteen long years be set free from this bondage on the sabbath?’ When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.” Message: In Chapter 13 of his gospel, the writer we know as Luke brings the issue of fruitfulness towards God into sharp focus. Following on from the parable of the unproductive fig tree (Luke 13:6-9) (the sweet fruit of the fig tree being a symbol of knowledge of God), Luke contrasts the lack of fruitfulness in the synagogue leader (and by implication the Judaism of the time) with the fruitfulness of Jesus. It is a story that should give all of us pause for thought. Doctrine, customs, practices and the prevailing social forces sweeping around us can, over time, dull our spiritual senses – both as individuals and collectively as institutional churches within Christianity. We cannot hope to help those who are crippled by the many injustices of our time if we continue to cripple ourselves by making pious excuses for not acting as Christ would. Prayer:
Lord
Jesus,
Mike Eavns |
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Scripture: Matthew 4:1-4 (New Oxford Annotated Bible NRSV) – “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’” Message: Asked about her day at nursery school recently our three year old granddaughter replied that it was OK, but one of her classmates had not been making good choices. Learning to make good choices is part of growing up, but can be heavily influenced by the culture we live in and the social forces at any given time. This would have been as true for Jesus through the early years of His life as it has been and continues to be for us in ours. Having had these human influences symbolically washed away at His baptism, Jesus is faced with a key question: “Whether to live and work according to God’s wisdom (as symbolized by the stones in the story), or to distort that wisdom by putting His own spin on it according to the prevailing human wisdom of His time (represented by the idea of turning stones into bread)?” Amidst the perplexities and dangers of this twenty-first Century, it is all too easy to be swept along on the strong tides of opinion generated by those whose agenda is the polar opposite of love of God and of the love of neighbor. This Lenten time, may the story of Jesus’ baptism and temptation be a reminder to us all to set the course of our lives founded on the solid rock of God’s wisdom and not our own, or on that of other people. Prayer: Holy One, help us this LentTo set aside our busyness And all the things that we chase after In search of fulfillment Help us instead To empty our lives So that we might be filled and transformed By the power of Your Holy Spirit In Jesus’ name. Amen
Mike
Evans |
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Friday, March 3, 2023 |
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Scripture: John 2:1-11 (NRSV Extract 1-3, 9c-11) - "On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine.' the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, 'Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.' Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him." (Please read the entire text in your Bible)Message: It is a common human ambition to want to lead lives that are fulfilling. Indeed, for most people, it is essential for their sense of wellbeing; without it there is always the feeling of something missing. There often seems to be something more to life than we can see, hear, touch, taste, or smell; a deep, almost primeval awareness of a disconnection from something vital. Then we try to make good that disconnection by filling our lives with extra activities: keeping fit (physically and mentally); pursuing recreational interests; joining groups with common interests, either on-line or in person; or we might even offer to become more involved with church. While these things can be good in themselves, they risk our becoming human doings rather than the human beings we are meant to be. Time becomes more precious, with the attendant risk of our 'God' time becoming ritualistic rather than enriching. In Lent we are encouraged to remember that the Spirit which drove Jesus into the wilderness, in complete detachment from day-to-day activities, led to the pattern of self-emptying which marked the rest of His earthly life. May we use this time of Lent to deliberately set aside our busyness to become like the empty water jars at Cana of Galilee; waiting to be refilled and transformed by the unconditional love, wisdom and grace of God. Prayer:
Holy One, help us this Lent
Mike
Evans |
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Christmastide - Tuesday, December 26, 2023 |
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Scriptures: Matthew 2:13-15 (NRSV) – “Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’” Luke 2:7 (NRSV) – “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” John 1:10-11 (NRSV) – “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” Message: World Homelessness Day (October 10), made a connection in my mind with the traditional Christmas readings above. Homelessness across the globe is increasing and millions are on the move seeking refuge from the violence of conflict zones, or because environmental changes are having a detrimental effect on food and water supplies, making survival in their traditional homelands impossible. On a more intimate level many others find themselves homeless through broken relationships. Stripped of all the complexities with which we humans like to weave around such issues to justify a particular stance, is it not true to say that the root cause of homelessness is abuse? Abuse of the planet and its resources; abuse of power; and abuse of one another? Is not homelessness an indictment of our (humanity’s) failure, collective and individual, to heed and act upon the imperatives at the heart of Jesus’ teaching: to love God and our neighbor (Matthew 22: 37-39) and to love as He loved? Prayer:
Forgiving
Lord,
Mike
Evans |
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Wednesday, January 5, 2022 |
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Scripture: Matthew 2:11 (NT-DBH) - "And, entering the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary and, falling down, made obeisance to Him: and, opening their treasure caskets, they proffered him gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh." Message: Matthew's story of the Magi and their gifts gives clues, both to how the Jesus story will end and the tensions that will emerge on the way. Kingship indicated by the gold will inevitably bring Jesus into conflict with the Roman authorities, while frankincense for a divinity offend both Romans and Jews. Both gifts foreshadow death as clearly as the gift of myrrh itself. Yet I suggest it is the way in which the gifts are offered that is of greater significance. That word "obeisance" indicates an act of submission - willing acceptance of the authority of the person being honored; placing everything, even life itself, at their disposal. This is the real significance of the act of the Magi for the Christ-child; something which would have been well understood by the early Christian community for whom Matthew wrote. Our world is materially different to that of our first century brothers and sisters; yet, in terms of human relationships, we face many of the same challenges. We are being deliberately blind if we fail to acknowledge the lack of justice, compassion and peace afflicting our own age; and that our comfortable lifestyles frequently contribute to those issues. So wonder: as would be followers of Jesus today, how does our commitment (mine and yours) to the Christ-child and the "Jesus Way" compare with that of the Magi? Christina Rossetti's hymn 'In the bleak midwinter' poses the same question: 'What can I give him?...' and supplies the answer '...give my heart.' - that same unconditional commitment enacted by the Magi. But that's a lot easier to do when we have nothing else other than our hearts to give. Prayer: Loving and generous God, as we reflect again on the Epiphany story, open our hearts and minds to all that keeps us captive and holds us back from fuller commitment to Jesus and His Way. Help us to die to our self-interests so that Your Spirit can work in, through and beyond us; making us channels of Your free-flowing grace, peace and love for all the world. Amen.
Mike
Evans |
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Tuesday March 8, 2022 |
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Scripture: Matthew 6:13 (NIV) – “And lead us not into temptation.” (Lord’s Prayer - traditional form) Message:
“There was a
little girl,
When
she was
good, She
was very
very good, Reading nursery rhymes with our eldest grandson a while back brought that particular rhyme to mind. Perhaps it reminds you of your own childhood. But the rhyme is applicable to more than childhood. It contains a fundamental truth of human nature. Like all living things we are hard-wired to seek survival. The need to protect ourselves, our particular gene pool, or ‘clan’ is deeply ingrained in us all. It is completely self-centered and underlies so many of the impulses which drive us to behave badly: lust; greed; jealousy; anger; pride; gluttony; and a reluctance to put ourselves out, unless there is something in it for us. These are powerful drivers, which come from within. The Jewish expression for this is “Yetzer hara”, which means the evil inclination. Jewish daily prayer contains a line that translates as: “Let no evil impulse control us”. The gospels do not say so, but surely Jesus prayed this earnestly throughout His time of trial in the wilderness. As would be followers of Jesus, we too are called to resist the selfish impulses of our own hearts and minds. Indeed we need to do so throughout the day, every day, if we are to give space for the challenge and grace of God’s transforming love to work in, through and beyond us. Prayer: Holy One, Sacred Source of all our being, help us this day to sacrifice more of our inclination to self-interest. So that, by Your grace, we may take another small step from death to life with You: Resurrection life. Amen.
Mike
Evans |
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Christmastide - Tuesday, December 27, 2022 |
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Scripture: Isaiah 40:3 (NRSVA) – “A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’” Message: The cry of the prophet was one of both hope and challenge. Hope that a broken relationship would be restored, while recognizing how much would need to change in the hearts and minds of the captive people for that hope to become reality. How well the daunting imagery of making a straight path in the Judaean wilderness captures what is involved in realigning human priorities with the morally good and ethically sound Way of the Lord. I think this is something we seriously underestimate. Advent rolls round for another year and we reach for our devotionals to help us focus again on the metaphor and symbolism of the Christmas stories. We probably increase our charitable giving too, but what about the rest of the prophet’s challenge? To prepare the Way of the Lord in the landscape of the 21st Century means to tackle the injustices, insecurities and oppression which blight the lives of so many. It means asking questions about how the clothes we wear are produced for the price we pay. Likewise our food and all the other goods we take for granted day-to-day. What (if any) are the ethical policies of the banks and other institutions we use? To ask these and other such questions is to risk being challenged to speak out and act against many of the inequitable social and cultural forces which swirl around us and influence our lives. Yes, an enormous task. Yet, that is what both the cry of the prophet and the ministry of Jesus points us towards. Prayer:
Holy One,
Mike
Evans |
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