Devos- Pinedale Christian Church

Friday
Sep 2nd, 2022

By: Matthew Sink

The Gospel of John-Day 65

John 16:16-24 “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Weeping is part of life, for know. We weep at funerals. We weep in hospital rooms. We weep with friends standing on the brink of divorce; with loved ones who are hurting; with displaced and mistreated people around the world. We live in a sick, broken world – a world that Paul said “groans” for the day when it will be free from death and decay. And we groan right along with it.

So how do we walk with Christ in a world like this? The answer: We need eyes of faith! Jesus says to His Disciples, “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.” In other words, for a season you will live with heavy hearts, but eventually warm rays of joy will break through the gray clouds and warm your hearts. Until that day, hang on!

For the Disciples, the first-fruits of that promise was realized when Jesus stepped out of the grave and reunited with them, but the ultimate fulfillment (for them and for us) is still in the future. The Good News of the Gospel is that Jesus didn’t stop at forgiving our sins. Through Him, God is repairing everything that is broken, beginning with us.

When you and I open our hearts to Christ, we become active participants in His reconciliation efforts. We get to help usher in this new kingdom. That means when we encounter ugliness in the world, we’re called to bring beauty, for God’s glory. Where we encounter disorder, we’re called to bring order. Where we encounter cruelty, we’re called to bring kindness. When we encounter pain, we are called to bring comfort and healing. Where we encounter hopelessness, we’re called to bring faith.

We don’t do that under some illusion that those little acts can repair the deep brokenness of this planet – but we do it to point to something new – a new creation – a new kingdom – where everything will finally be as it was meant to be from the beginning.