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I urge you to spend some time reflecting on who God is for you? The answer may give you insight about how you see God, your expectations of God and how you allow God to impact your life. One of the questions I ask people is; “What does God have to do to get your attention?’ This is another way of looking at what God means to you and how you expect God to reach out to you. Don’t make the same mistake, as that of the Pharisees who missed recognizing the Messiah, for them Jesus simply did not fit into their expectations.

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Today’s Gospel is an account of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples. This account is very different from the other accounts in the Gospels. Jesus makes another appearance. He welcomes his disciples with the call to Peace. I want to point out that Jesus said this to the disciples who were afraid, the doors were locked, they had isolated themselves out of fear.

Fear can lead us to abandon our values, goals and convictions; leading us to behaviours that normally would not happen. In a way causing us to feel shut down. I want to point out that after receiving the Holy Spirit the disciples were fearless, actively preaching the good news when before they lived in secret.

People who are courageous or have done courageous acts can still be afraid. They have learned how to handle their fear to prevent them from being shut down. So, going back to the disciples, they were likely still afraid for their lives, but the Spirit gave them courage to move forward.

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Jesus makes some serious claims of those who follow Him, who will be able to drive out demons, speak new languages, pick up serpents, and even if they drink poison they will survive. Jesus promises miraculous cures simply by laying hands on the afflicted. I recognize that miracles do happen. I am not questioning that, however in our own times we don’t always see the healings nor the drinking of poison. I am wondering if there is something more here for us to consider.

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John is writing on his favourite theme of love. We are given a command to love one another. I struggle with this because one cannot be commanded to love. I wonder if the personality of Jesus, described in the Gospels, could shed light on how to respond to the call to love. We might start by focusing on and developing these personality traits in our own lives.

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In this Gospel Jesus compares himself to the true vine. There are many points I want to draw your attention to. This metaphor of the vine would be well understood by the people. There were vineyards where people would grow grapes for wine.

People would understand that vines were frequently pruned to produce much more fruit. Anyone who grows plants or interested in growing gardens is familiar with the concept of pruning to ultimately make the plant more beautiful or more productive.

The comparisons are obvious, that many times we are pruned when our goals don’t happen. Just to be clear not all our challenges and struggles are examples of being pruned but some are. We are being pruned not as punishment but to assist us reach our full potential.

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Today’s podcast is from John 10: 11-18. This Gospel will be read in churches April 21, 2024. Jesus compares himself to a shepherd, not just any shepherd but a good shepherd. Fortunately, Jesus goes on to clarify what he means. Probably most of us have little or no experience with shepherds and likely have never met one.

Jesus frequently used common experiences that people would recognize... to illustrate key spiritual concepts, in the parables we read about the lost coin, fish, vines and planting crops for example. People at this time would presumably have been familiar with shepherds.

A sheep that did not know their own shepherd was a problem: as it was at risk of being lost or falling prey to wolves and other predators. Rather than punish the lamb the shepherds had a way to teach the lost lamb about the Shepherd.

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There are many stories in which Jesus is revealed to people in various communities. I am proposing that the aspect community in our faith may be more important than we realize. I want to draw your attention to Matthew 18:20 where Jesus promises, “When two or more are gathered in my name I am there”. I am beginning to realize that being in a community can help mature our faith.

I know that living community is not always easy. It was no different in the early church; as we read in the Acts of the Apostles and the letters from Paul to the early Christian communities, many instances where he is admonishing them for their divisions and judgmental attitudes.

I am left wondering if by dealing with these differences ... our faith matures.

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In this Gospel of John, we have another appearance of Jesus. Although the doors are locked Jesus has no trouble appearing to his disciples. The first thing Jesus says is “Peace be with you”, and He will soon say it again. Jesus makes it clear that peace is an important part of his Gospel. He says it twice here and in several other scriptural passages. Unfortunately, we Christians have not done a very good job of keeping the peace. Wars and armed conflicts have almost continuously occurred throughout history. This command has not been taken seriously.

Peace is not an absence of conflict.

Because we are not perfect beings there will be times when we will need to be skilled in forgiving. Jesus spoke about forgiveness many times. I draw your attention to Matthew 18:21-35 when Jesus is asked how often should we forgive? The answer is a powerful 7 times 70 times. Jesus is telling us to be a forgiving people. As important as forgiveness is for peace to flourish, we have not done a very good job with forgiving.

The second issue I want to draw your attention to is the story often referred to as Doubting Thomas. I have to admit I think this perception of him as Doubting Thomas is unfair.