In the 1991 movie Hook, a Steven Spielberg spinoff of Peter Pan, Peter Pan’s daughter Maggie tells Captain Hook, “You need a mother very, very badly.” In the story arc of the film, the line cuts to something deeply true about Captain Hook: he has little or no love in his life, love like what young Maggie experiences in her mother. In all reality, if we substitute “Jesus” for “mother” in Maggie’s sentence, we will have named the deep need of the world: we need Jesus very, very badly.
For Maggie, the love and person of her mother captures all that is right in the world, and all that Hook needs to become something different than the vengeful, fearful man he is. In our faith, Jesus is all that and more. For example, in John’s Gospel, Jesus describes himself using “I am…” statements that intentionally call to mind God’s self-revealing with Moses in Exodus 3:14 (“I Am Who I Am” or “I Am Who I Will Be”):
- I am the bread of life (John 6:35, 48, 51)
- I am the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5)
- I am the door (or gate) of the sheep (John 10:7, 9)
- I am the good shepherd (John 10:11, 14)
- I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25)
- I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)
- I am the true vine (John 15:1, 5).
In these sayings, we find Jesus revealing himself and his character, and identifying with the character of God. At the very least, he identifies himself as the sustenance, light and hope, protection and entryway, guide and caregiver, and way through which we and all the world are connected to God’s eternal and relational life. In short, he’s what we need, even when we don’t realize we’re in need.
Because we as individuals, as church, and as the world need Jesus very, very badly, we’re spending this year in worship focusing on Jesus as revealed in the Gospels of John and Matthew. We’ll start with the Gospel of John, chapter by chapter: “So that we may believe,” as John tells us (John 20:31).
Here are our goals for this year as pastors and as church:
To grow in our knowledge and love of Jesus through developing practices of being with Jesus,
To grow into the way of life of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we might become like Jesus and do the things he does.
The Administrative Council hasn’t named our goals in exactly this way, but they capture something of the heart of the direction of the church. They’ve been informed by reading and studying John Mark Comer’s book, Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus, Become like Him, Do as He Did. We’ve also been inspired and led to these goals by the Holy Spirit whispering into our spirits in the midst of everyday lives.
Admittedly, preaching and worship are only a part of how we’ll seek to order our lives during this year. Here are some other steps we can take together during this year.
Reading Scripture: There is a very accessible reading plan that accompanies this year’s sermons, which you can get at the church or here. We invite everyone to read the Gospel of John at least once between Epiphany and Pentecost. There are resources in the church’s library, as well as with either of the pastors. We can read individually, or we can get together in groups to read or check in on our reading. We may host a few groups at different points during the year.
Reading Practicing the Way: Any of the members of the Administrative Council can be partners in conversation. It may be a good book to consider making a bit of a book club.
Making a Habit of Jesus: This is language of John Mark Comer, but also of our church tradition, such as Brother Lawerence, a 17th Century lay person who lived and served in a monastery, and who wrote the spiritual classic, The Practice of the Presence of God. A challenge I’ve been contemplating is, “To what does my mind go when I’m not thinking or doing anything, and could it go more readily to awareness of Jesus’s presence and character?”
Listen to Our Podcast: Each week, one of the pastors will provide a brief devotional focusing on one of the non-preached passages of our week’s reading. Find the podcast here, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Perhaps all these things are new practices for us. If so, here’s one piece of hopeful advice: Jesus doesn’t expect us to be experts, to have all the answers, or to be perfect; Jesus simply keeps saying, “Come and you will see,” as he does when Andrew and another disciple of John the Baptizer meet Jesus (John 1:39). Today is exactly the right day to take a step toward Jesus, and exactly the day in which we’ll discover that he has already taken all the steps toward us.
PS. (If you want a few Bible-reading tips)
Sometimes we get in our own way when reading scripture. Here are a few simple tips for reading scripture:
Read scripture seeking to hear from God. Do it prayerfully and expectantly. The Holy Spirit’s inspiration is at work all the time, and it seems, especially, when we invite the Spirit.
Read scr
ipture with scripture. A study bible’s notes can be a great resource that helps us see the echoes of other scriptures within our present readings, and as we hold more scripture in our hearts and heads, we’ll see these echoes ourselves too.
Read scripture with others. Sometimes in groups with other people, but also with the communion of saints through commentaries, sermons, and conversations with others.
Read scripture with the tools you have. Our own experiences (and those of others) and our backgrounds can be tools to help us read scripture. People who are engineers approach texts differently than poets or teachers or psychologists. Let these gifts loose in our scripture reading.
There are other tips and tools, but those might be enough for today, except for this one: John tells the story of Jesus so that we might believe and have life in Jesus’s name. When all our understanding, tools, and tips fall short, we can read trusting that the Holy Spirit is helping us believe, and in believing, we may grow closer to Jesus.
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