Day of Praise

Tu, 12/17/13, "Day of Praise"

"Jesus said to her, 'Mary.'" - John 20:16

My 14-year old son, Caden, has a gift. He only needs to calmly say my name, "Dad," and I know exactly what he means.

Like when we're driving to school in the morning, and the first of many people use the side of the road that's not the road to pass all of us who are waiting in line on the road. I'll let out my annoyed driver siiiiiiiiigh. And Caden will calmly say, "Dad."

What Caden means is, "Dad, don't start getting all excited. You know that doesn't help anything. People drive like this everyday. And your getting upset with them hasn't, to this day, miraculously turned them into good drivers. So calm down." Caden says all that with a calm, "Dad."

That's what Jesus did in today's verse when he said, "Mary." Mary was all excited about nothing as she was frantically weeping about Jesus's body being taken. And Jesus calmly says, "Mary. Calm down. I'm right here with you. Your getting all excited doesn't make anything better. It actually makes things worse because you don't even see me standing right here. And I've got everything under control." Jesus says all that with, "Mary."

So today, when something happens and you start to get upset, stop, for just a moment. And listen. Jesus is calmly calling your name, maybe through someone like my son does for me. And with one word, he's saying, "Take a breath. Calm down. I've got it all under control. Just trust me."

Blessed are those who do.

Praise God!


Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson