Skip to main content

The Way to Jesus


John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness,
proclaiming a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins.

Hope is a powerful force.

The hope of a coming Messiah led John the Baptizer from the wilderness, to the river, and calling for repentance.

The hope of justice in 1952 inspired Private Sarah K. Evans on her way home from her first military assignment, to refuse to move to the back of the bus.

The hope of Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman encouraged, a black teenager, Claudette Colvin, in 1955 to refuse to surrender her bus seat to a white person resulting in being handcuffed and arrested.

The Hope in the Civil Rights Movement prompted Rosa Parks to refuse giving up her seat in the "colored" section of the bus when the "white" section was filled.

Hope a better life drives migrants from Venezuela.

The hope of a future prophetic voice led me to baptized Phoebe Kim, my Pastor's daughter.

Hope is a powerful force based on Scripture.

Hebrews 11:1, 8-22, for example, describes Abraham’s faith in trusting God's goodness and ability to deliver on the promises God had made.

Hope is the way to Jesus when we feel the darkness of life hiding the way to Jesus.

Blind Bartimaeus discovered the light of Jesus when he cried out for healing, “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”

When we look at the violent, chaotic world around and within us and wonder about a way to Jesus, with the hope of Bartimaeus, we can call out “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us”

Think about it: In this season of holiday preparation, how do you slow down and look for a way to Jesus?


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Grantchester's Warning

"But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, the owner would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (from Luke 12:32-40 ) I regularly watch Grantchester; a murder mystery set in 1950s England. The main characters are a local detective and an Anglican priest who, as a team, solve mysteries set in the town. Two aspects of Grantchester impress me. First, the simplicity of the 1950’s police communications done by a landline phone and not cell phone. Second, the simplicity of daily life with little television and fewer possessions allowing the characters to focus on their vocation of detective and priest. This simplicity is more than a nostalgic return to the “good old days”. Instead, it’s a Shaker type of simplicity where austerity allows freedom from distractions to focus on worship and community. Today’s distraction-filled world has seemingly countless activ...

Jesus’ Rules of Hospitality

“Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you.” (from Luke 10:1-11 ) There’s a true story of a seminary professor who asked a class to imagine the most challenging part of accompanying the 70 on their mission journey. Most of the responses were predictable: no money, no change of clothes, no food, depending on strangers. One student said, “Eat what is set before you.” The student explained that his father was a pastor in a very rural, poor part of South Dakota and often invited to dinner mostly by farmers. On remote farms people often relied on whatever they could kill or catch, such as squirrels , rabbits, and other wild creatures, even for guests so the father instructed the family to eat what was set before them. He added, “We just never knew what we would have to eat.” If you search Luke, you’ll find that Jesus often attends a meal, but never gives a dinner party. In Jesus’ rules of hospitality, being a respectful recipient by grac...

Walking with God

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. (from Ps.103:1-8 ) Thomas Merton, American Trappist monk, writer and theologian, once asked himself a question he immediately answered:   How does an apple ripen? The apple, by simply being in the sun, fulfills its purpose of ripening, The apple doesn't try to ripen faster, it simply allows the sun to do its work.   There is nothing it can do to ripen itself. It can’t do workouts, tighten its muscles and then suddenly be a red, ripened, juicy apple in the morning. The apple just hangs on the branch in the sun, naturally ripening, where it receives its daily nourishment. This is the basic plan for how Christians ripen in their relationship to God. The difference is that Christians don’t naturally ripen in their relationship to God, we have to place themselves where we can be nourished. The beginning place of nourishment I find most helpful is the Guide to Prayer For All Who Walk With God. The daily walk in the...