Believing

Debbie:

Jonah 2:1-10

Jonah is one of my favorite characters in the Bible. He struggles with what God wants him to do. He runs away from what God wants him to do. He whines about what God wants him to do. Here in this passage, “Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish . . .” Even in the midst of despair and hopelessness Jonah knows that God is God and God is his God. But more than that even in this desperate situation Jonah is going to lift up his voice in thanksgiving and honor his pledge to God. He knows that God is the one who can save him. His trust and faith is in the Lord. I know I struggle with what God wants me to do at times. I know in my life I have tried to run away from what God has wanted me to do. I know from time to time my prayers have been more whining and complaining than praising and glorifying. I know that I have been in desperate situations, but I am not always ready to lift up my voice in thanksgiving, my first reaction is not always one of trust.

Acts 2:14, 22-32

Peter, standing with the eleven, with Pentecostal fervor found his faith and his voice. No longer is the women’s story an idle tale, but a gift of grace in his life. Peter, who denied knowing Jesus stands boldly in the midst of the people and explains exactly what they have done and who Jesus is in relation to King David. But the most profound statement that Peter makes is that they are all witnesses to God raising Jesus up. It is no longer an idle tale. It is a witness for the church. The disciples witnessed the resurrection and now they are to proclaim it. They must go and tell others about Jesus, his life, death and resurrection and help them to believe, so they, too can find their faith and their voice and tell others.

John 14:1-14

Sometimes I find it difficult to follow the logic of John. I can usually find something comforting in what he says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled . . .” But then Jesus keeps talking or the disciples ask him a question and it all seems to get muddled. The question or really the statement that troubles me in this passage for today is Philip’s statement that if Jesus shows them the Father they will be satisfied. I read this passage over several times and just kept going back to that phrase, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” What does it mean to be satisfied? Does it mean to be happy? Does it mean to be filled? Does it mean that we are convinced that something is right or true? Does it mean to be able to take a deep sigh at the end of the day and know that God is in control? What does it mean to be satisfied? Jesus told Philip, the disciples and consequently disciples through the centuries that we have seen God, the Father through the life of Jesus. But are we satisfied? Do we believe? Jesus told the disciples that at some point they were simply going to have to believe. “Do not let your hearts be troubled, believe . . . Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes will do greater works than these . . .” not on one’s own, but because of trusting in the power of Christ to work in and through them. Perhaps at the end of the day to be satisfied is to trust in God’s love and grace, or put simply to believe