It’s all about our ambitions, our ambitions for life. Jesus never criticized His disciples--or us, either--for having ambitions, only for having the wrong ones. James and John wanted the very best for themselves, the positions of glory and honour and power--positions right beside their Lord and Saviour, Jesus--an idea that, in itself, is not altogether bad. It would be great to be forever close to Jesus in that way. But essentially, their ambition was selfish, and altogether worldly. It was ambition as our world and our society. It was to be ‘the top dogs’.

Jesus, however, said that the best ambition is not to be ‘the top dogs’, or, in fact, anywhere in the ‘dog’ hierarchy. It is not to be concerned with position or power or glory or honour, or any such thing. It is, instead, to be like Him and simply be taken up, absorbed, with the task of serving others and helping them in their hour or time of need--just as He did. That, Jesus said, is the best ambition.

However, my suspicion is that we, you and I, are often like those disciples. We like to be able to ‘throw our weight around’, or, at very least, have our opinion and wishes taken seriously and acted upon--whether this is in the church--or in the wider community or society. And we are frustrated when the ‘powers that be’ do not do this. How hard it is for us to simply be the servants and just ‘allow the cards to fall’ where they may. But that

is exactly what Jesus calls us to.

The Scriptures are quite explicit in warning us not to trust in, or prize, anything more firmly than God. The Bible calls these things ‘idols’ and as one of the great Reformed theologians once said, “We humans are idol makers by our very natures”, and isn’t this true? By our very natures, we are prone to put our trust in many things and people more than God, and to prize people and things above God. And so today’s passage and meditation are very helpful reminders and challenges. Thanks be to God.

So easily do we forget at times just who we are in light of what Jesus has done for us. We are brothers and sisters of Christ, part of the family of God, and co-heirs with Christ of all of God’s greatness and glory. We are heirs of all of God’s great and abundant promises. But far too often we live as if we were ‘just ordinary people’, people no different from the rank and file of those around us. Of course, this should not be something that flaunt or boast about; however, it should prompt us to want to live differently, to live according to our calling, or to live in a way that measures up to that calling and honours it. It is quite a challenge, yes, but then it is also quite an identity and privilege that is ours.

Today’s psalm and meditation really give me--and perhaps all of us--some room for self-examination. They raise the question that many of us have when things go disastrously wrong, namely, ‘God, where are you in all this?’

Before Covid hit, we at St. John’s had all sorts of glorious plans: the 100th anniversary of the building of our present church building was rolling around , so we were planning a float in the parade, an anniversary service and picnic at the church and a great Homecoming weekend. In fact, we had an activity planned for pretty well every month of the year. But all that had to come to a screeching halt. In addition, we were in the midst of a confirmation class, and it was hoped that a visit by our Bishop during that anniversary year would just be like ‘the icing on the cake.’ But none of that happened.

Furthermore, with the online/ remote and Zoom services, there was a whole pile of extra work, which fell to an already small and heavily involved group of volunteers, resulting in feelings of disillusionment, burnout and snarly tempers all round. It is easy to wonder where God is in all of this.

However, what today’s psalm and meditation is that God is indeed there, and is working things out--albeit in His own time and in His own way. And, so it is a call to trust Him, to trust Him anyway, no matter what comes our way.

No one, especially Jesus, ever said that being a Christian was going to be easy. And no one ever said that we wouldn’t flub it, not once or twice, but frequently. The good news is that God loves us anyway, values us, accepts us as His friends and followers, forgives us when we fail Him, and forgive us nonetheless. What wonderful love that we have in Jesus! Thanks be to God.

Here we have recurrent rain, but whether it is raining or not where you are, I hope you have a great day.

I’m afraid that far too many of us are like St. Peter: we waver in our devotion to God and lack consistency and integrity, and we listen to the wrong voices at times, and, as a result, we get it wrong. The Good News is that God takes all of this into account, as He did with Peter after his denial of Jesus. He forgives us, restores us and brings us back into His glorious service. And so, like Peter, we can always come back, even after we have ‘blown it’ mightily.

Jesus lambasts the Pharisees and supporters of Herod Antipas for pretending to be interested, when in actuality they were not. It was hypocrisy and a bold faced lie, and because of that dishonesty and lack of openness, they were simply unable--but just unwilling, but unable aw well--to hear Jesus out.

Sometimes we too fail to hear Jesus out, but more often it is because we don’t think that we will like what we think Jesus will say to us--or is saying to us. It all comes down to a question of control, who will be in control of our lives, God or someone else. Or, put another way, who is it that we will trust. Far too often, we want to be ‘boss’ and be in control, which means, almost invariably, that we won’t hear very well and won’t hear what God is trying to say to us.

There are times in all of our lives when we need a little bit of a ‘boost’, a recharging of our spiritual batteries. For the apostle Peter one of these times was his experience with Jesus on the Mount of the Transfiguration. In fact, he alludes to it in one of his letters--in 2 Peter 16-18. This was something that he certainly harkened back to and which solidified his faith in Jesus and in the truth of the gospel.

In like manner, so too, in like manner, can our ‘special’ experiences empower and sustain us. On occasion I have asked people what their ‘otherworldly’ experiences have been like, and their answers might surprise you. One person described it has holding their first child or first grandchild. Another, as the sense of peace and calm of standing at the grave of a loved one. And several people mentioned some place in nature, a waterfall or mountain lake or seaside vista--or perhaps a heavenly phenomena, like the Northern Lights. Anyway, whatever it might be, hold on to it, remember it and let it be a reminder of God’s presence and incredibly sustaining love.

As mentioned in the Forward Day by Day meditation, we pledge, in our baptismal covenant, to proclaim by word and example the Good News of of God in Christ, and yet, how often are we slow to do so, and rather tongue-tied in our attempts? Here the example of Paul in Athens can serve us in good stead, as he seeks to find a bridge with his audience, a way to get through to them. But, then, that meant waiting, spending time with them and listening to them--and, of course, being open to the leading of the Holy Spirit. I am convinced that there are indeed God-ordained ways of ‘getting through’, if only we will listen for them.

Once again, we have two telling reminders of the powers of faith and of prayer, and yet, how easy it is to forget this. However, for me, this day in history, my personal history at least, will always be reminders of this fact. I was to start a new job on this date back in 1970 and needed a car for work. However, my circumstances were such that I did not have the time or opportunity to look for one. So, I prayed what has to be a very audacious prayer, “Lord, you know that I need a car for work, so if you want me to have one by then, you will have to take care of it.” Well, wouldn’t you know it: entirely ‘out of the blue’ someone phoned me the night before I was to start work with an offer of a car--and at a price that I could well afford! But, how easily I forget, and how slow I am to go to God in prayer. I suspect that many of us are like that.

The disciples in today’s story had a problem with their faith, their trust, in the Lord Jesus. It was because they failed to heed, to understand, to remember, things that had happened to them in the past--in their case, the very recent past, with the feeding of the 5,000.

The same thing can happen to us, which is why it is so crucial that we remember our own pasts, especially our own encounters with the Lord, for these can fuel our faith and give us all the more reason to trust God in the here and now. Now, I’m not suggesting that we live in the past, but that we are informed, and encouraged, by the past. And so, my conversion to an active faith in Jesus Christ back in 1970 or my infilling by the Holy Spirit that same year, or my call to ministry in 1973, will always be great reminders of how God has worked, and can work, in my life--and by extension, in all of our lives. But then, I have to remember.

It is sad to say, but unfortunately true, that for many people today their sense of kindness and compassion has waned or diminished somewhat. I’m not sure just why that is, but can think of several possible reasons. One is that there now seem to be so many problems and issues facing us as individuals, churches, societies and the world. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by them, bewildered by them, and fatigued with just thinking about them, much less doing something about them. There seem to be just so many demands today: they seem to never stop. And, then there is the increasing polarization and just plain nastiness, the evoked sense of guilt or shame when one isn’t adopting a particular stance or adopting a particular cause or project.

Maybe, we need to recover some of Jesus’ compassion, and maybe we need to take a page from His playbook. In today’s Scripture lesson, the teaching and feeding of the 5,000, He tackles a big problem, but does so in a very limited way and in a very focused space. He could have gone around teaching and feeding myriads of other people, but He focused on just this one ‘lot.’ And, He did so with just the resources at hand, His own words, and the meagre food resources that His disciples could scrape up. So, maybe that’s a lesson for us: focus locally and on the present localized needs, spiritual and physical, take a look at what you have on hand, and then make use of that--and, of course, let God be your guide. Chances are that He has already laid something on your heart, just as He did with those first disciples.

Many things might be said about God’s faithfulness and loving care towards us, but nothing compares--at least to me--with two sentiments that David records in today’s psalm, the facts that God recorded, kept track, of all his wanderings and that God saves up and even counts his tears. To me, that says a great deal about just how dearly God loves us, and just how sympathetic He is of what we go through-two very good reasons for loving, trusting and obeying Him.

Sometimes I am sorely perplexed as to what God might want to say to us through a particular passage of Scripture. Today’s reading from Genesis was such a passage. Of course, one might take from it the old saying, ‘what goes around, comes around.’ In other words, what you say or do, might eventually come back to bite you. That certainly happened in this story: the perpetual trickster, Jacob, gets tricked himself. So, was that God’s intended message to us? Maybe. However, I choose to take from it another lesson, namely that the ‘fall guy’ (or gal) in the story, the one who was misused and shamed, namely Leah, falls under God’s loving concern and is blessed by God. I happen to believe that God has a special concern for those who are mistreated or oppressed by others and often takes their side and helps them. Anyway, that was the message that I took from today’s passage.

Something that has just recently come to mind is something that school systems routinely have, something that they add to year by year and pass on, something called ‘accumulative records’. These records follow a person all through his or her school career, and, one would hope, are reasonably sympathetic, understanding and balanced, taking into account one’s own particular struggles and circumstances. One would hope so, but then, that cannot be guaranteed.

God, in one sense, has His own accumulative records pertaining to each one of us, and, not just for our school careers but for all of our lives. However, His is understanding and loving and fair in ways that no human evaluation could ever be. He is able to take into account and weigh all the factors that go into how we have behaved throughout our lives, and so we can trust Him far more than we could any other living being. Thanks be to God.