Harmony of Grace

Philippians 2:1-11 In our reading this morning, the apostle Paul urges followers of Jesus to display the same humility as Jesus did in his interactions with others. What does it mean to be humble? According to Paul, it means doing nothing for selfish purposes. It means valuing others above ourselves and putting the needs of others before our own. Unfortunately, these are not traits that we often see in Christians and Churches in the world today. To be charitable as a Christian today means to first satisfy our own needs and then if we have anything left, to give it away to the poor. I understand the desire to ensure that we have enough; that we are able to live comfortably; that we are able to provide an exciting future for our family and children. I have the same desires. But I can't help but think that this is not the way of Christ. Everything about Jesus' life and teaching was about lowering himself so that others could be exalted - even to the point of death on the cross.  W...

Isaiah 50:4-9 The prophet Isaiah describes the way of God's servant in this passage. He says that every morning, a servant of God should wake up with the intention of learning and listening to the Spirit of God in the world.  I love this piece of advice.  How often do we wake up with the intention of "showing the world who's boss?" We presume that we have something to offer the world and they better listen to what we have to say.  There might be some truth in this; we probably do have something to offer the world. But the way of the servant of God always has the goal to learn more; to grow in their understanding; to seek God's movement in the world. Even Jesus encouraged his disciples to be more curious; to ask more questions. Jesus rarely answered people's questions outright; he almost always asked another question.  I am always very wary of people who claim to know the absolute truth about anything. The only real absolute truth is Jesus. So instead of waking...

  John 12:12-16 God’s people were correct in thinking that God was sending them a new king in Jesus, but they were not happy with the type of king that God had sent.  God remembered the people of Israel and provided them with a King. But when their King arrived, they were not thankful because they had a skewed idea of how their king was going to look and behave. While on Sunday the people praised and sang as Jesus entered the City of Jerusalem, a couple of days later on Friday, the people called for Jesus’ crucifixion and supported the murderer Barabbas instead. They were not happy with the King that Jesus claimed to be. Their expectation got in the way of God’s plan for them. The people of Jerusalem were so caught up in their own idea of what their promised Messiah was going to look like, do and say, that they completely missed what God was doing right in front of them. How often is this true for us today? What unrealistic and self-conceived expectations have we placed on God...

John 12:12-16 This week, we are faced with the story of Palm Sunday, where Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem as King, the week before his crucifixion. As we near the end of our Lent journey for this year, we are drawing closer to the greatest moment in the Christian calendar, the Easter story. Let us not miss this opportunity to reflect on what this time means for us as God's people living in the world today. God’s people had once lived in a mighty kingdom, peaking under the leadership of King David. The prophets promised the Israelite people that God would provide them with a new King who would save them, but that dream seemed very distant from where they currently found themselves living under the rule of an oppressive Roman Empire. They currently felt abandoned and helpless. But then rumours began to spread of this charismatic Jesus fellow who was said to be performing miraculous healings and driving out demons in every town that he visited. And now he was coming to Jerusalem...