John 10:14-21

1) Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes) 

2) Scripture Reading: John 10: 14-21  

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” ¹⁹ The Jews who heard these words were again divided. ²⁰ Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” ²¹ But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

3) Devotional:

Red Sox fans…. The most hated and revered of all baseball teams. If you are a baseball fan, you know that you either love the Red Sox (and hate the Yankees) or you hate the Red Sox (and LOVE the Yankees). No such thing as in between. You choose a side and stick with it. In the following passage Jesus does the same thing. His public ministry is starting to wind down and He is pushing people to make a difficult choice. Either embrace Him as God, the Messiah or reject Him. There is no middle ground with Jesus. It’s either you are all in or all out. Many people in our society, including Christians, haven’t chosen to follow Jesus with everything. We know that if we choose to follow Him it will require everything, all we have, all we are, and all we would ever want to be. Jesus isn’t looking for fair-weather fans, but passionate, unruly, untamed, and unquenchable followers who will go after Him to the ends of the earth and back.

 4) Questions to Consider:

What would it look like for you to become a passionate, unruly, untamed follower of Jesus? What is holding you back? What steps can you begin to take to get there?

5) Prayer:

Jesus, forgive me when I don’t choose to give you the best parts of my life? Show me where I fall short so that I can repent and get back on the path you’ve created for me.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

John 9:13-23

1) Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes) 

2) Scripture Reading: John 9: 13-23They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.  Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is a prophet.” They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?” “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind.  But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

3) Devotional:Bono, lead singer of the band U2 was sharing with an interviewer his thoughts on karma and grace:

“You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics; in physical laws every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It's clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I'm absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that ‘as you reap, so you will sow’ stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff.”

This story is a great example of this concept.  Here, the disciples are asking a question that is based on this karma way of thinking.  What did this man do to deserve being blind?  What did his parents do?  Why is he reaping this horrible disease?  Yet, Jesus responded not out of karma, but out of grace.   He did, what this man could not do for Himself.  Give him the ability to see.  The scandal of the cross is that you and I don’t get what we deserve.  Grace interrupts it.  For many of us that is good news because we’ve all done a lot of “stupid stuff,” and need grace to offer us forgiveness and a second chance.

4) Questions to Consider:What do you need Jesus to do for you now that you can’t do yourself?  How can you experience God’s grace to free you today?

5) Prayer:Jesus, I know I don’t deserve your love or your mercy.  But I choose to receive your grace today.  Show me where you want to bring greater forgiveness and healing in my life.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)