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“I’ve got nothing”… 

Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever said that? 

All of us live in different seasons and rhythms that are met with different pressures. Where are you these days? Do you feel like you cannot keep up with all that is going on around you? 

A pattern in my own life has started to emerge around this time of year, I am running out of gas! Sometimes, I get so caught up in “doing the work of ministry” that I neglect to do regular maintenance on my soul. Trust me, as someone who would rather keep pushing and be “busy for Jesus,” it is a hard thing for me to acknowledge a need to slow down, let alone take the actual time to do it. 

Well, what about Jesus!? He was a pretty busy guy…Well, yes and no. 

If you look at the account of Mark, which is known for its fast pace and “immediate” transitions, it does not take long to see that Jesus often goes to a “desolate place” (1:35) to pray and is “withdrawing” with his disciples away from the crowds (3:7). 

If we are not careful, “busy for Jesus” will take over “being with Jesus.” 

I am challenged by Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:25-30. The context is a rebuke to certain cities that did not repent after seeing Jesus’ works. He then turns to teach that relationship with God is only found through a relationship with Him. It is not the mighty works that are as important as the mighty one doing them! It is here that Jesus says, 

“Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (ESV). 

Has Jesus become your “job” or duty on “Sundays”? 

Has he become the “right answer” that you know you should say? 

Do you see Him rebuking you or asking you to come? 

As of right now, I will admit, I am not the greatest example of this. Yet, God is loving enough to show me that “doing” and “being” are two different things. God has given me a few practical examples this year that when you do not properly maintain something, the breakdown is often longer and more expensive than the routine maintenance. It is one thing to talk about the maintenance of our family vehicle and another thing to talk about my soul. How would you answer the questions in bold today? What will it look like to do some maintenance on your soul today?

I was blessed with the most wonderful in-laws a guy could ask for. But I often wonder what they thought when Brenda brought me home to meet her family. 

I looked more like I came off a rock band poster than the cover of a romance book! I had a big head of bushy red hair and a red beard wearing flair-bottomed pants and platform heels (this was the 70’s). 

However, when I came through their front door, I was greeted by her brother John. He had the biggest smile that could ever fit on a face. He held his hand out and welcomed me. 

What was special about John was that he had Down Syndrome. I don’t think I was ever in the company of a Down Syndrome person before and if I had any nerves, they all but vanished when I shook John’s hand. 

I really didn’t give my future father-in-law much time to get used to the idea because we were married only a few months later. By that time my beard was gone, and I had had a haircut. I didn’t realize until years later that how I accepted John was a pivotal moment in whether our relationship was to continue. But John and I were always the best of friends. We accepted each other for who we were and that was all. 

Years later, when I was at Bible College in London, I worked at a parking lot. One evening a van full of developmentally challenged adults came into the park. I can still see the forlorn faces staring out of the window, so I waved to them. You might not believe the difference that came to those same faces. They went off to the movies and were so happy when they piled back on the bus. The chaperone thanked me for my kindness to his gang. I was surprised because they were people just like myself. 

There is a valuable spiritual lesson that always comes to my mind when I reflect upon these experiences. Ephesians 1:6 in the KJV says: “to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” 

Acceptance is something many of us struggle with: “how could a holy God accept me into his family? I never feel like I belong. I wish people could see the real me.” These and a myriad of other thoughts rob men and women of so much blessing and often they relate their life experiences to life in the church. 

But the bible has so much to say to us about our position with God. That verse I quoted is part of a long sentence penned by Paul. It begins: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing.” And ends “you also… were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit…to the praise of His glory.” (Eph. 1:13,14). God leaves nothing out for our blessing in Him. 

If you are a new Christian struggling with the effects of a sinful lifestyle or even if you have been a believer for years and are still haunted by your former life, understand what is true about yourself now from the word of God. Then find support from your church family by joining a growth group or by seeking counsel from your Pastors. 

Above all, don’t try to carry that burden alone. 

When I met John, he saw me just as I was. In effect, his handshake cemented a bond that I have cherished. To know that we are “accepted in the beloved” is to enter a relationship that will last your whole life. Who knows, maybe you can make a difference in someone else’s life by accepting them just as you have been accepted yourself.

Act 1:8 

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 

Before 2020, the compound would have been filled with the energy of thousands of high school students. They would have filled the expansive brown soccer field, their laughter echoing across the grounds, or sat diligently in classrooms, absorbing knowledge and experiences vital to their growth — they would have been busy learning, playing and just being normal. However, COVID-19 brought the closure of schools for these students, and the onset of civil war in the fall of that year meant that those schools never reopened. Classrooms that had once been filled with students became home to thousands of individuals and families displaced by war. 

In 2023, I had the opportunity to visit this school compound in the northern town of Shire, in Tigray, Ethiopia with a small team of other missionaries on a “vision trip.” The purpose of this trip was to see what we could do to alleviate some of the suffering that had gone on in that region. When we first arrived at the school compound, it was filled with tens of thousands of residents who had come from the western regions of Tigray – just like 17 other elementary and high school facilities in the area. Children were running around, some unaccompanied by parents; mothers carried malnourished babies; all were waiting in desperation for food aid that would offer them sustenance. Teens who were supposed to be finishing high school stood leaning against the fences, looking lost – maybe in their memories of the sounds of gunshots and the smell of gunpowder in the hot desert. 

Among these internally displaced persons, stories of trauma, horror and hurt are normalized, but the physical toll is unmistakable. Many people have not received any medical care for years. Some try to ease their pain with locally sourced herbs and traditional remedies. However, in many cases, illness grows worse, and some have passed away from illnesses that are easily treatable. 

Last month, I returned to the Shire community, along with a team of 17 healthcare professionals, armed with 40 boxes of medication, all ready to provide much-needed healthcare to the community. When we arrived early Monday morning, the local health clinic compound was filled with patients who had heard about our arrival. It was overwhelming, but we knew that God had called us to extend his love and mercy. Doctors, nurses, dentists, counsellors and surgeons readied themselves to do what they could – to use the gifts, the training and the time that God had given them to serve the needs of those that God had placed before them. 

Within a week, we treated about 2800 individuals with a wide range of physical and mental health concerns. Every evening when we heard the reports, we were beyond belief at what God had done in those few days. People who had had no health care for years received surgeries, counselling, dental work, and medication. In an area that has traditionally been very closed to the Gospel, 45 individuals decided to come to Christ just because of the love they had poured on them. On the fourth day, after receiving eye treatment, glasses and prescription medication, one older woman came to me and 

said, “You (the team) are the sign of light and ብርሃን ሆነልኝ (light has come to me).” Another told me, “Your (the team’s) presence is a sign that we have peace. I believe there can be peace in this country.” Although we left knowing that the need was much greater than what we could address in one week, the experience gave our team members a bigger vision to continue working to meet the community’s needs. 

Jesus spoke about providing for those who are in need of food, shelter, clothing, or medical care, and His life demonstrated the importance of showing love and compassion to others, especially in times of crisis or suffering. We humbly request your prayers and support as we plan future trips and support to this and other communities in need of God’s love. 

Finally, I want to leave you with these reflection questions: 

How does your faith manifest in your actions in responding to community needs, locally and globally? 

In what ways has God called you to embody His words in Act 1:8, within your community or in the broader global context, as we are continually surrounded by those in need of his love and grace?

One of my earliest memories as a child is getting lost in the Right House department store at the Brantford Mall. One minute I was clinging to my mother’s skirt, the next lost in the circular racks of dresses that I soon discovered weren’t attached to a pair of maternal legs. 

A moment of terror, until I was found. As I got older with children of my own, I would write my name and contact number on little forearms, in case of unexpected separation. In essence, in case my child runs off in a moment of tantrum, excitement, chaos or wonder, or whose parent gets distracted for a second, if this little one is found, I am claiming them. They are a Callaghan, they belong to me and I do (usually) want them back. 

I thought about this in light of our Father. See my Father doesn’t write with sharpie on my arm, but has marked me by His blood. He inscribes His covenant on my heart. As Paul describes, “written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of the human heart” (2 Cor 3:3). 

What is even more astounding, is that that He has not only placed His mark upon me, but He has engraved my name upon Himself. Isaiah 49:15,16,“ Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold I have engraved you on the palms of my hands, your walls are continually before me.” I am blown away by the depth of His love, His redeeming claim of me. My inheritance is in Him, not because I deserved it, but simply because I belong to Him. 

The irony is the longer I live in this world, the less I recognize it, the less I belong. And to be honest there is anxiety in navigating a world where I feel turned around, often unable to understand the times (perhaps that is just getting older) where things that were always certain things, are now unsure. It is, as I reflect, not unlike the feeling of being lost in the back of the Right House. But the more lost I feel in this terrestrial space, the greater comfort, greater joy, greater humility, greater assurance, the greater and bolder desire to share, the simplest and yet most profound truth that matters when one is lost, and that is, to whom I belong? And I belong to Jesus. 

Brooke Ligertwood – I Belong to Jesus (Dylan’s Song) (Live)

There is written in the Book of Life

And on the palm of Jesus’ hand

In the story of redeeming love

There I recognize my name

On the day I chose to trust in Him

When I turned from death to life

He was waiting with a robe and ring

And now I can testify 

I belong, I belong

I belong to Jesus 

He is my rock My strength, my song

Yes, I belong to Jesus 

When it’s clear the world is not my home

Or if I forget it’s not

May He turn my eyes upon Himself

So it’s Him for whom I long

When the brokenness of sin surrounds

When people fail and leaders fall

Still, the Lord will be my hiding place

I am safe upon the rock 

For I belong, I belong

Yes, I belong to Jesus

He is my rock

My strength, my song

Yes, I belong to Jesus

Yes, I belong to Jesus 

Everything the Father gives

Everything that Jesus paid for

Is my inheritance

All because I belong to Him

Anything the world could give

Anything that Earth can offer

Has no comparison

All because I know 

That I belong, I belong to Jesus

Imagine life without Jesus. Seriously, try. 

I had occasion to chat with some teen boys in December that left a deep and lasting impression. They had come to Central for Christmas dinner – the one organized for the community by Dave and Barb Rogelstad. The amount of work that went in to pulling that off was astounding. Dave and his team not only source and serve dinner, but gathered donations and gifts from Brantford businesses for our guests, did the set up and clean up, handled invitations and co-ordinated with social services folks. 

Remarkable. 

I’ve talked to Dave about this. The idea behind the enormous effort, is to show Christ’s love, to plant seeds in hearts, to be gentle and giving to people in difficult circumstances. In other words, to shine light into the darkness. 

Anyway, back to the teens. 

They were friendly and cheerful and open. 

I suspect in day-to-day life they would be more guarded. But here they seemed relaxed, and I think that had a great deal to do with the immediate environment. 

They were welcomed, there was nothing asked of them. They were cheerfully served a full dinner, and dessert. There was ice cream, candy canes, and the promise of a parting gift. People smiled at them and engaged with them, served them. They had been made aware that the congregation would welcome them again should they want to return some Sunday morning. 

Imagine life without Jesus. 

As we stood off to one side after dinner and chatted, I became aware that in their day-to-day world casual violence seemed to be the norm. It was just a thing that one suffered or engaged in depending on the circumstances. 

I asked about school, where did they attend. One young man, without blinking an eye, told me he was unable to go to school because he was under a restraining order to keep a certain distance from another student. He didn’t take this as a point of pride or embarrassment. It was just what was. 

In their world, the phrase “Jesus Christ” is simply an expression of dismay or surprise. It carries no other meaning. Life is defined by the passions of the moment. Restraint, like every other behaviour, is employed only when it serves the self. 

Like all human beings, deep down they were, to quote C. S. Lewis, “a bundle of self-centred fears, hopes, greeds, jealousies and self-conceit.” And they live in a world where the spirit of the age, the zeitgeist, roars around them in a vortex of confusion, twisted messages, and self-centred appeals to keep them blind to Truth. 

I became profoundly aware talking to them that, but for our Lord, there go I. 

Imagine life without Jesus. 

There is no peace. No assurance you are loved. No eternal hope. There is no light in the darkness. 

I gather from today’s pervasive social media, that “do what you will,” is the mantra of society, and that the highest good is achieving, regardless of cost, an unbroken string of worldly success. 

Imagine life without Jesus. 

Back in 1952, when his father was dying, the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas wrote: “Do not go gentle into that good night … rage, rage against the dying of the light.” 

When I consider his lines I am tempted to despair, to rage against the dying of the light in the world today. 

But I would be wrong. It is a false premise. The Light is not dying. In fact, “the light shines in darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.” John 1:5. 

Will one of those teens dare to come to church one day. Maybe, maybe not. But I know this, the folks serving dinner and smiling let their light shine before others. And that memory is a seed, it is something God can work with to counter the darkness surrounding them. 

Allow me a commercial break as a member of the Missions Committee. 

As we approach the Missions Weekend, May 4 and 5, you will encounter a strong focus on local missions. You’ll hear from members of community organizations the committee has researched and connected with. 

What they do is help people in the name of Jesus; meet them where they are. That’s what shining a light for Christ looks like, and where trust in God enters our efforts to win souls. 

“And I will lead the blind

in a way that they do not know,

in paths that they have not known

I will guide them.

I will turn the darkness before them into light,

the rough places into level ground.

These are the things I do,

and I do not forsake them.”

Isaiah 42:16 (ESV) 

So here is the challenge: 

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 (ESV)