26th. April. 2022. Daily Devotion.

6 ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”’ Mark 16:6-7

Peter gets singled out. Peter was the first disciple mentioned by name in Mark’s gospel and here he is the last one mentioned.

Peter had suffered an extraordinary failure when he denied Jesus three times This was not a slight faith-flaw but a defiant public insistence: “I don’t know this man.”

Considering those words, we—and Peter—might think he was done for. Washed up. Unforgivable. Good for nothing but the trash heap. How many of us have ever thought of ourselves that way?

If you’ve ever totally blown it, lost it, or wasted it, then be sure to see the wonderful grace in this statement that singles out Peter. In this beautiful and essential nod to a disciple who failed, we find the indisputable evidence that he has been forgiven: “Tell . . . Peter”!

Replace Peter’s name with your own. Of all the great benefits of the resurrection, forgiveness is the indisputable evidence that we can understand—that Jesus has taken care of our sin and restores our relationship with him.

Jesus’ shout-out to Peter contains all the restoration and forgiveness that the Saviour has earned for him—and for you!

Lord Jesus, thank you for specifically calling, by name, a disciple who failed. I am glad to know that you know my name and have called me to be restored too. Amen.

Let us run the race that is set before us in the royal road of love. Let us keep an even pace rooted in the faith of the saints. Let us be grounded in true catholic love, until we are consumed by the fire of your grace for ever. Amen. John Wesley (1703-1791)

Loving Lord Jesus, help us to be as respectful of strangers as you were and to meet them as equals and valued human beings, not as objects of charity or as people to be avoided because they are different.
May we be sensitive to unknown backgrounds, aware of our own prejudices, open to and accepting of other cultures and willing to learn from them.
Help us to hear their lament for a lost country, for family left behind, for poverty or persecution in a former life – exchanged for the hostility and indifference of an unfair society, where opportunity is far from equal and judgments are made on superficial evidence.
Lord, may our welcome be as genuine, honest and loving as yours. Amen.

“Do not kill” – and attention to the small things in life

Loving Lord, I often see on the TV news examples of inhumanity to others – people being tortured, abused, injured, or killed. I need to remind myself that the commandment “do not kill” also refers to my attitude and what I do each day, because it is in smaller ways that I can destroy people if I ignore them or cut them off or do them down. Loving Lord, inspire me to take care of the smaller things of life as well as the bigger issues. Amen.

God of peace, you teach us that in returning to you we shall be saved:
By the power of your Spirit lift us to your presence, where quietness and confidence shall be our strength; and where we may be still and know that you are God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.