This Sunday’s readings: John 21:15-25

Reflections

There is tremendous relief in knowing that His love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion Him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench His determination to bless me.
~ J.I. Packer, 1926-2020, English-born theologian, Author

I liked myself better when I wasn’t me.
~ Carol Burnett

We’re in the presence of a good story when the flaw that shatters shalom is also the doorway to redemption… Whether it be our own flaw or the sin of others, God uses the raw material of sin to create the edifice of his redeemed glory … The point cannot be overemphasized: your plight is also your redemption. The Bible assumes that its stories are also our story… We are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Their stories are a paradigm of our own. Each of us is called, redeemed, and exiled – again and again.
~ Dan B. Allender, To Be Told: God Invites You to Coauthor Your Future

I was right not to be afraid of any thief but myself, who will end by leaving me nothing.
~ Katherine Anne Porter, 1890-1980, Author, from short story “Theft”

After conversion we need bruising so that we might remember that we are reeds and not oaks. Even reeds need bruising because of the remaining pride in our nature and to show us that we live by mercy. Such bruising may help weaker Christians not to be too much discouraged when they see stronger ones shaken and bruised. Thus Peter was bruised when he wept bitterly (Matt. 26:75). This reed, until he met with this bruise, had more wind in him than heart when he said, ‘Though all forsake you, I will not’ (Matt. 26:33). The people of God cannot be without these examples. The heroic deeds of great saints do not comfort the church as much as their falls and bruises do.
~ Richard Sibbes, 1577-1635, Anglican, The Bruised Reed