Day of Praise

Thur, 01/18/18, "Day of Praise"

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

My wife and children have this supernatural power over me, like with our 18-year old son, Caden, who has a gift. He only needs to calmly say my name, "Dad," and I know exactly what he means.

Like when we used to drive to school in the morning, and the first of many people used the side of the road-that's-not-the-road in order to pass all of us who are waiting in line on the road. I'd let out my annoyed driver siiiiiiiiigh. And Caden would calmly say, "Dad."

What Caden meant was, "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 wife and children do 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