Fourth Sunday in Lent

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Psalm 23

Ephesians 5:8-14

John 9:1-41

         Recently I found myself so busy trying to correct an issue which had arisen that I fixated on one solution. I instantly ran the list of reasons why no other option worked. Eventually, after several days of wearing out the heels of my shoes, I recognized that several options worked and would accomplish what we needed from the program. In today’s Scriptures, we see the Pharisees behaving much the same way. Their fixation with the letter of the law which they had translated into human-based systems blinded them to God’s working around them.

         The Pharisees were the ultimate rule-makers. They had interpretations and guidelines for every law in the Torah. Anyone who did not live exactly according to their standards faced discipline from this leadership body and possible exclusion from the synagogue. Jesus constantly confounded them, (they could not be brought to believe that they were quoting the law to The Word, The One who gave the law) for whenever they challenged him for breaking a rule, he educated them on the law. When Jesus healed a blind man on the Sabbath, he sparked debate and division with the sect as his action put rules in conflict.

He healed on the Sabbath = Sinner! = Not a Man of God.

He healed ≠Sinner! = Man of God.

         The conflict existed because Jesus was not one of them and did not adhere to their restrictions. Since he was not raised among them and openly flouted their legalism, their own “God-given” rules would not let them see God in him – yet he did things (healing) they never imagined they, the Godliest of all men, could do. The even seemed to recognize as much when the formerly-blind sinner challenged them because they refused to listen; they saw his response as “teaching,” and because of his low status drove him out.

         The Pharisees give us the perfect reason for seeking growth and improvement in the Lenten season. Our Christian education may be solid. We may be perfect in following the doctrine of our faith community. The example of the Pharisees shows just how blinding education and doctrine can be – especially when they are a closed system with one supporting the other. I have been confronting the ways my doctrine and theology blind me to the work going on through others in the world. During this season, we have the opportunity to pull back the blinders and see God at work in many unexpected people across the world. They just do it differently than we do. They are not us, but if we are willing to listen, we may learn something new – or at least rejoice at the work of God. 

October 7 - Ordinary Time

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Book of Common Prayer Psalm 118, 145 Hosea 13:4-14 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 Matthew 14:1-12

Today’s Question: How do we overcome the vanity that affects our relationship with God?

Today’s Reflection: Yesterday I watched an amazing video on YouTube. A group of tourists, animal watching in Africa, were watching and filming a herd of gazelles crossing the road ahead of them. Suddenly, a previously unseen leopard leapt up and grabbed a gazelle in mid-bound. Neither the herd of gazelles nor the vehicle filled with tourists expected such a sudden attack. The leopard lay completely camouflaged in the grass beside the road. The gazelles seemed to think the presence of humans had removed natural threats – and I am betting the tourists thought the same thing: fearsome creatures flee before our presence. The vanity that derives from human nature so often drives our decisions and behaviors. Today’s scriptures dramatically illustrate what happens when human vanity comes between humankind and God. That vanity comes in a variety of forms and from a variety of sources. As God points out in Hosea, when he took care of Israel’s needs, the people became too comfortable and forgot about him. The Corinthian battle comes between fully-human and fully-God, and in Matthew it happens when a public declaration backfires. In our imperfection, too many openings allow for personal vanity, however it manifests, to interfere with our relationship with God. When it interferes, the outcome never works out in our favor. I relate with many of the people in the passages today, but the Israelites in the time of Hosea sound so much like the people of today. When things go well and we are comfortable, we like to reward ourselves with congratulatory “job well-done” statements. We like to brag about the things we have accomplished, to show-off the things we have done. When our things, our works, take precedence to our relationship with God, the relationship suffers. History shows those things going well, crumble when we rely solely on our own wisdom. Maintaining humility proves challenging to even the most sincere, but as always, God gives us the tool to make it possible: the Holy Spirit, or the “mind of Christ,” as Paul writes to the Corinthians. Christ’s experience as fully human and fully God bridges that gap between our human nature and godly purpose. We have available something the early Jews and Herod did not have, THE Spirit that guides us to understand our purpose from the perspective of God. No matter how much I want to be me, he wants me to be much more. To borrow a phrase from politics: I didn’t build it (me). Just as the gazelles and tourists never anticipated the ambush about to take place in their midst, we rarely anticipate the challenges that can overwhelm our well made plans. Our vanity disintegrates when dashed with reality life brings our way. Relief comes when we mend the relationship we have with God, yet we keep repeating the cycle.

Today’s Prayer: Let us keep our hearts open to the Spirit that keeps our vanity weak and our relationship with God strong.