Thoughts for the Day

But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, “Where are you going?” But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgement, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

My mother would say "Has that gone in one ear and out the other?", referring to the fact I had not actually heard what she'd said because I was engrossed in a book. Today this happens in families where all ages often have head phones on and are listening to a podcast, or who are on the phone. But the worst case of not taking in what was said, for me, occurred on Sunday 31st August 1997. I always checked the early news in case I had to update my intercessions, and of course I heard the shocking news that Princess Diana had died in a car crash. I did a quick rethink, started the 8am service with the announcement of her death, said a prayer for the Royal Family, and then we sang the National Anthem. At the end of the service however, half the congregation asked me why we'd sung the National Anthem. They had heard my announcement but couldn't quite take it in. The Princess' death had 'gone in one ear and out the other', probably because it was so shocking.

Jesus has been telling his disciples that he will shortly die and rise again on the third day (Mark 8.31), and in the previous chapter of John's Gospel he has also warned them that they would be persecuted (John 15.20). However in today's passage when Jesus says that shortly they will no longer see him, the disciples simply cannot comprehend what he is saying. It is as though they have gone deaf!

Shocking as well as good news, can do the same thing to us, as can things we have heard too many times. How often have we heard that God loves us, and that He sent His Son, Jesus, to offer us forgiveness for our sin and to reconcile us to Himself? But how often do we list our sins and really ask to be forgiven, and then believe that God has forgiven us? Or do these words simply go over our head, or 'in one ear and out the other'?

Lord Jesus Christ,
You came to call us back to God our Father,
who loves us and wants to be reconciled with us.
May we truly acknowledge our sin each day,
learn to accept His forgiveness,
and make positive steps to change our life.
Amen.