I Don’t Know How, but Do It Again
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday, July 14
Psalm 85
I’m thinking about magicians.
In the purest sense, they capture our attention and perform unexpected feats that we can’t fully comprehend. The cynic tries to discover how the magic was done, which causes it to lose its wonder. But those with childlike faith watch in awe, begging, “Do it again!”
God has a way of doing what only God can do—bring restoration to the land, forgive the sins of the people. But when we are in between God’s blessings or feeling the discomfort of his discipline, the cynic in us may question whether we were ever truly loved or if we could ever possibly be loved again. Notice in the psalm what God is able to do with love, faithfulness, righteousness, and peace. These verses invite us to expect awe and wonder in God’s activities, and to keep pleading, “Do it again!”
O Lord, we don’t understand how your miracles work, but we thank you for them when they come. Help us to keep trusting like Jesus. Amen.
PRAYER FOCUS: SABBATH REST
Deeper Truths in Nature
Monday, July 15
Mark 4:1-9
What a world around us—full of life, wonder, and truth. Do we notice?
In this parable, nature sets the stage, whispering and teaching through Jesus. Sea, shore, seed, soils, birds, sun, thorns, and grain are common, everyday things from the world. But when woven through the Messiah’s gaze, they reveal something about God’s kingdom.
What responsibility does the sower have? What responsibility goes to the soils? Is there an invitation to respond, or are these just hidden truths? According to the last line, we should be pondering these things. What truths might the Spirit be revealing in our own day through nature? Are we listening, or are we too distracted?
Creator, open our eyes, unplug our ears, slow down our pace, and teach us about reality in heaven and on earth. Amen.
Secrets and How They Open
Tuesday, July 16
Mark 4:10-20
Parables can be difficult. There are so many ways to think about them, so many possible interpretations. Thank heaven Jesus desires to reveal meaning to his followers.
His statement to the disciples is both comforting and complex. Parables reveal and conceal at the same time, and this seems to be God’s intention. To have a secret unlocked is not meant to invoke our pride but to remind us that God’s people have shared the revealed meanings to parables down through the ages, and we are accountable to do the same. Some will hear, some will not, but we don’t get to decide where to sow the seed. Our role seems to be to keep listening, accepting, and testifying, and to let the Spirit bear the fruit—both for us and for the world.
Mysterious God, help us to keep learning about you and your kingdom, and to faithfully share what you reveal. Amen.
PRAYER FOCUS: COVENANT GLOBAL PERSONNEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA (MENA)
What You Give Is What You Get
Wednesday, July 17
Mark 4:21-25
There is a simple logic to the cosmos as God has ordained it: Light will shine, secrets will be revealed, what is planted will bear fruit.
This confronts our beliefs about the Lord. Is God cruel? Is God weak? Does God intentionally keep us in the dark?
Jesus’s closing admonition offers us comfort—God is speaking, God has given you ears, use them to hear! The onus isn’t upon those who can’t hear, it’s upon those who won’t listen.
We don’t have to understand everything. It is a gift to hear from God and to live into what is revealed. When we trust Jesus, what we give through this resurrection-life will bear fruit for us, will bear fruit for our world, will bear fruit for the kingdom to come.
God of light and unveiling, show us more and help us to be attentive to your will. Amen.
The Hard Parts about Love and Belief
Thursday, July 18
John 12:37-43
This story from John’s Gospel is similar to the parable of the soils—revealing and concealing, belief and unbelief. This is a hard teaching. How do we make sense of it?
Those who witnessed miracles that were performed “in their presence” (v. 37, NRSV) didn’t always believe in Jesus, but the prophet Isaiah, who never personally met the Christ, “saw his glory” (v. 41) from across the ages. How profound.
Although many didn’t believe, some did, “even of the authorities” (v. 42). Yet not all who believed confessed their belief—because of fear, because of what they loved. How convicting.
What do we love? What do we believe? Does our love of wrong things suffocate our beliefs in what is right?
O God, forgive our hard hearts and give us a true love that casts out all fear. For Jesus’s sake. Amen.
PRAYER FOCUS: PEOPLE SUFFERING FROM ILLNESS
The Father, the Son, and the Word
Friday, July 19
John 12:44-50
Based upon the words in yesterday’s passage about belief and unbelief, Jesus seems to call us all to account. Can we ever be whole if we say we believe without confessing truth, if we accept the words without following the messenger, if we see the light but remain in darkness?
There is a mysterious, inseparable connection between the Father, the Son, and the Word. God sent light and revealed eternal life. If we have seen the Son, we have seen the Father. If we have heard the Son’s words, we have heard the will of God. If we reject the words of Jesus, those words will one day stand in judgment over us because they have been offered to us by the Father.
In John’s Gospel, these are the last words before the Passover, betrayal, and crucifixion of our Lord. What greater invitation and testament could we be left with?
Expansive God, help us to accept the wholeness of life in Christ and to keep growing in our understanding of what it means. Amen.
Keep Climbing That Hill
Saturday, July 20
Psalm 24
Life can be a lot like climbing a hill.
Who put the hill there? God, long before we were born. Why should we climb it? Because we hear the invitation of the Spirit which stirs in us a childlike wonder. What will we find at the top? Blessing, vindication, the company of saints, the face of God.
But to climb the hill takes effort, purity of heart, singularity of purpose. Is this kind of discipleship worth it? Perhaps another way to ask this question is, “What do you most desire in this world?” For the psalmists, there is no greater reward than God’s presence and love.
To begin the journey, we have to open the gate for the King. Once he is with us, we just keep climbing that hill.
Give us grace for the journey, O Lord. May we not be distracted by what is false. For the joy of Jesus. Amen.
PRAYER FOCUS: COMFORT FOR THOSE IN PAIN
