November 17 - Ordinary Time

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Revised Common Lectionary Year C Isaiah 65:17-25 Isaiah 12:1-6 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 Luke 21:5-19

Today’s Reflection: One thing I like about working in education is that every school year comes with a fresh beginning. The previous year is boxed away (literally - grade and attendance documents are stored away until it is legal to destroy them) and teachers have new students and students have new teachers. Whatever happened the year before has been forgotten and we start the new year with new hope and energy. Unfortunately, the rest of our lives do not operate quite the same way, so we do have some hope when we see the hope a new beginning from God. The Isaiah passages consider God’s role in our lives and the world he wanted. The verses from Chapter 12 celebrated God’s forgiving power in that even when we are doing wrong, God loves us enough to put aside his wrath and be our salvation. Chapter 65 describes the right and orderly world, as God intended, that he will bring about for the well-being of the faithful. God’s care for us is intentional when we do as he expects. The passage in 2 Thessalonians reminds us that our work as Christians does not stop when we believe - that is where it begins. We all have a purpose and a job to do. Being idle or a busybody were people taking advantage of the generosity of the early church. The lived off the church without contributing anything to their own well-being. Others in the church worked to support themselves and then gave to the church. Paul reminded them, that regardless of his stature in the early church, he and his companions worked to pay their way, not expecting gifts from others. Jesus shares a world of chaos and calamity in the Luke passage. Wars, famine, earthquakes, plagues will happen on the earth but we should not be tricked into believing that any of those things mark his return to the earth. The people acting in faith will always find themselves at risk by powers, religious groups, and even their own families, yet he assures them that not even a hair on their head will perish. This was not a physical promise Christ made, but a spiritual one. Many were martyred - but their souls have eternity through enduring in the faith. New beginnings. Fresh starts. Our Christian faith, built on grace, accepts that none of us is perfect: we are human. Fortunately, we worship God who values us enough to let us be works-in-progress during our physical lives with the promise of becoming the perfect creation of his vision in the New Jerusalem.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org

 

June 9 Ordinary Time

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Revised Common Lectionary Year C 1 Kings 17:8-24 Psalm 146 Psalm 30 Galatians 1:11-24 Luke 7:11-17

Today’s Reflection: Each spring my garden begins (mostly) from scratch (depending on how cold the previous turned out to be). From time to time one of the plants survives the winter and grows out from the root. Even when that happens, I transplant the survivor to a new location because I rotate the garden plants each year – good stewardship of the land. Today’s scriptures are about transformation- from the replenishing bit of meal and resurrected sons to the turnaround of Paul’s heart from one zealous for the old ways to someone equally zealous for the Way. Despite an ongoing drought with no new grain the jar of meal and jug of oil never ran out in the story from 1 Kings. The widow had enough faith to follow Elijah’s command. She was prepared to make her last meal and then die with her son. Her gamble paid off: she not only had enough food for herself and her son, but also for Elijah. Her faith carried them through, but the depth of the faith was just enough for that. When her son became ill and died, she doubted the God who had saved them just to let them die. It was only after Elijah’s appeals to the Lord resurrected her son that she proclaimed, “Now I know that you are a man of God….” The Gospel passage includes a similar passage. A widow’s son has died. Jesus has compassion and resurrects the son.  The act created awe (fear) among the members of the funeral party. Each person present recognized the power of Jesus shared the story about him throughout the region. Their ideas about the presence of God in their world were changed and they believed again that God was with them. The most dramatic transformation in this week’s scriptures is that of Paul. In yet another passage he recalls his history of persecuting the followers of Christ because he so believed in the law and traditions of his people. He reveals a prophetic calling – “…God, who had set me apart before I was born….” It was only when he encountered Jesus that he realized the calling was for something different. That same zeal turned from persecuting believers to converting unbelievers – in particular non-Jews as he traveled around the Roman empire. We do not live in a world with prophets and messiahs resurrecting children out of compassion for their parents. For whatever reason, God has not continued those events into our time. What has continued, through the presence of the Holy Spirit, is the spiritual transformation as experienced by Paul. Each one of us has the opportunity to have our hearts and minds transformed to do the ministry for which we have been called. Like Paul, we were all set apart before birth to accomplish the work of God in our time. Whether we realize it or not, we are daily transformed. It is what we do with that transformation that speaks to our faith.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org

Third Sunday of Easter April 14

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Revised Common Lectionary Year C Acts 9:1-20 Psalm 30 Revelation 5:11-14 John 21:1-19

Today’s Reflection: Far too often in life, we find ourselves convinced that the long-range plans we have developed are flawless and beyond reproach - only to find our best laid plans collapsing around us as we observe, mouths agape, the carnage of our ideas. I cannot help but think of Robert Burn’s poem, “To a Mouse” with its line “the best laid schemes o’ mice and men.....” The more confidence we gain in ourselves, the more likely that confidence is to fail us. Today’s scriptures focus on two of the most powerful men in the Bible as they receive new directions from Jesus about the direction their life is to go. Acts 9 picks up the story of Saul, the sworn enemy of the Way and a Jew among Jews, as he heads from Jerusalem to Damascus with special directions for the purpose of persecuting anyone he finds who is following Jesus. His hatred of the Way was so deep he “breathed threats and murder.” I can only imagine that his companions struggled to keep up with him as the headed to Damascus at a brisk pace in order to get right into the hunt for those he could bind and return to Jerusalem for trial. In John 21 we see some of the disciples doing what they did before the arrival of Jesus - fishing. Jesus calls them to shore and they share a meal together. Peter, the strong, fiery, impulsive member of the Apostles finds himself challenged three times by Jesus (the same number of times he denied knowing Jesus) whether he loved him. Of course, being the fiery one, at the third time, he responded in his frustration. Saul’s march to Damascus was halted by a blinding light and the voice of Christ challenging his purpose. The ONE who fueled his passion suddenly called him to account for his actions and give him a new purpose in life. Instead of persecuting the fledgling church, he became the mouthpiece that took the church into places it would not have soon reached. Each time Peter answered that he did love Jesus, Jesus followed that assurance with a pastoral command. Peter’s personality was not best suited for that kind of pastoral care, yet Jesus explicitly directed him to “feed,” “tend,” “feed” - gentle, quiet care of the flock. Both Saul and Peter had different visions for themselves than were in the plans of Christ. As strong and powerful as they were, their lives were redirected by the transformative power of Christ. Whether motivated by hatred (fear) or passionate love God has in mind the ministry for each of us. We just have to watch, listen, and obey.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org