Morning, Psalm 88; Evening, Psalms 91 and 92;
Judges 9:1 to 16 and 19 to 21; Acts 4:13 to 31; John 2:2 to12:
“His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2: 5)
I confess, I am a Mary fan. Mary was a thinking person, a pondering person. Perhaps it was this pondering quality that impressed God and why God chose her to be the Mother of our Lord Jesus. Mary gave birth to her Lord who in turn gave her eternal salvation, and also us today who believe.
We will learn as we read the Gospels that Jesus can multiply fishes and loaves. Therefore, Mary never ran out of food during the thirty or so years that she shared a house with her Son. All she had to do was ask, and it was done. We can see then that when the wedding hosts ran out of wine, it was natural for Mary to let Jesus know about the situation with full expectation that he would respond. This too is true for us today. We must ask with full expectation that our Lord Jesus will respond, but the response requires our obedience.
While Jesus sort of rebuffs her requests, she has already turned away from him and looking intently into the eyes of the “servants”, into our eyes, and she says to us, “Do whatever he tells you.” For me, this is the most powerful, albeit shortest, sermon in the Bible. All we need to do is make our needs known and then do whatever he tells us. From Mary, I learn that as Christians, we ponder, we pray and we obey.
Today we remember John Mason Neale, Priest, Scholar and Translator (August 7, 1866) and his information may be found at John Mason Neale. We also remember Catherine Winkworth, Poet (August 7, 1878) and her information may be found at: Catherine Winkworth.
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:1 and 2). So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom.
What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and to serve, and to teach others to love and to serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray: For Quiet Confidence (BCP p. 832)
O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength: By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
onewhoponders 