Monday February 18, 2008
Mark
1:41-42:
Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his
hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be
clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
Mark
is considered by most Biblical scholars to be the oldest of the Gospels and the
source material for much of Luke and Matthew.
Jesus is already an adult when the Gospel of Mark begins. It focuses on Jesus’ ministry as a
combination of thought and action, prayer and deed. It shows Jesus teaching his disciples how to
live.
Many
of the teachings and parables include miracles like this story of the man with
leprosy who is “cured” immediately. It’s
easy to get stuck on these stories, especially in an age of televangelists or
“faith healers” who have used Biblical miracles to offer promises of “healing”
that feed their own coffers.
Of
course the idea of a miracle is very appealing.
When I was diagnosed with cancer years ago, I would have been thrilled
to have an immediate “cure,” a “miracle,” but nothing in my experience
supported that as an option. Rather than
limiting God to the supernatural, my theology embraced God as the ground of my
being, the mystery of the universe, the creator of all things, including
science and medicine. How could I limit
God to miracles?
So,
for me, this story of the man with leprosy is more about compassion and
transformation. It is powerful in its
simplicity. It says, where there is a
need, try to do something to help… in Jesus’ name and in God’s transcendent
love. That is the miracle of the Gospel.
Dear
God,
Open
our hearts and minds to the needs of others and help us to respond to your call
with love and compassion. Amen
Tuesday February 19, 2008
Luke
13:7-9:
So he said to the man who took care of
the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this
fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the
soil?'" 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and
I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not,
then cut it down.' "
In
the preceding paragraph, Jesus, has been instructing the disciples on
repentance and just prior to this parable in verse 5, Jesus states, “No, I tell
you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” What was Jesus saying in this parable? What does this say to his followers?
Repentance
is a prayer we should all pray and not just during lent. Jesus is very clear that repentance is what
is required. We are all sinners, God is
not grading our sin, therefore we all come to God in
need of grace. If we take this time to
cultivate, pull the weeds in our lives, and fertilize our spirit with prayer we
can renew the relationship with our Creator.
The passage would indicate that God’s patience is not infinite. Does that mean we are doomed to perish if we
fail? I don’t think so, but God
certainly weeps over our failures.
Let
us take this opportunity during lent to come to our Creator with humble
supplication to help us restore our connection and make Christ and his
teachings the center of our lives. Amen.
Peace.
Wednesday February 20, 2008
Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working
for the Lord, not for men,
The Lord works in mysterious ways. As I rushed to pick out
a verse on the last Sunday before they were due, I came across the verse in
Colossians 3:23 and thought, "I can easily write something about singing
to the glory of the Lord in choir or giving 100% in all that you do." But,
before I started composing my entry, I decided to check the context of this
verse in the Bible. I also performed an internet search to see if there was any
further commentary or applications. Much to my surprise, I found an application
for the verse that involves an issue that I have been dealing with at work for
the past several months.
The end of the year is always a very busy and stressful
time for me at work, and this past year-end proved to be no different.
Co-workers were out on vacation and management was not helpful in addressing
the heavy workflow that typically occurs. Also, problems that had been building
throughout the year seemed to come to a head. Unfortunately, it is the same
every year. So after five years, I had had enough and became very angry and
critical of what was happening. I also started communicating my discontent. So,
needless to say, when I came across the following application for the verse on
the internet, it really hit home. "We do not do our job unto the Lord when
we take miserable attitudes to work or when we make noises like we are unhappy with
the boss and environment." I had no idea that being unhappy with my job
and speaking out about it had anything to do with not serving the Lord. The
internet finding went on to say, "We do not serve the Lord when we loaf
when the boss is not looking. We do not serve the Lord when we undermine
another employee to get him in trouble with his boss." Still further
admonitions included, "When the boss comes around, we patronize him.
Licking the boots of the boss is not the best way to serve the Lord. Kicking
people in the teeth below you is not the best way either! Scripture does not
recommend these things!"
I had no idea that office politics were addressed in the
Bible. In Paul's letter to the Colossians, he tells them to keep their sights
set on heaven and to do away with earthly things. That our real life begins in
heaven. Unfortunately, that is easier said then done. Especially, when we get
bogged down in our daily lives here on earth. We tend to lose sight of the
final goal. Clearly my challenge is to let go of the anger and frustration that
I feel at work. Even though, I will make suggestions for improvements, I need
to keep in mind, "if we keep God in view in everything we do at work, we
honor God at our place of employment."
“Lord, please help keep me focused on You
daily. Help me avoid the many earthly distractions and temptations so that all
my work is done for Your glory.”
Thursday February 21, 2008
John 11:33
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who
had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and
troubled.
In
the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, it is unclear whether Christ
is Son of Man or Son of God. I think he is both. His humanity and divinity are
intertwined and inseparable -- He is both of us and of God.
Jesus
delayed in going to the ill Lazarus. When Jesus arrives, the young man is dead.
Lazarus’ sisters Martha and Mary and their friends sob over their loss. They
react to their master with anger, asking him why he didn’t come sooner to save
Lazarus.
Jesus
is indeed human, moved by his friends’ pain and angry that once again his
followers have doubted him. So Jesus demonstratively prays to God and calls
Lazarus out of the tomb to make his point that he is the divine dude with
special powers.
It
is unlikely that we will witness a Lazarus-type resurrection. That was a
special act of Christ during a special time. But I do believe that Jesus is
trying to teach us here that God understands when we are overwhelmed by grief
over a death– even while we simultaneously believe that our loved has gone to
heaven. Our Lord also understands our anger at loss, and he can take it when we
rant at him in our grief. He knows the sadness and pain comes from our love for
one another, and he knows that we love him, even when we are despondent.
Because he loves us as we are – human.
Friday February 22, 2008
Luke
23:34:
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them,
for they do not know what they are doing."[a] And they divided up his clothes
by casting lots.
In
the past when I’ve read or heard these words of Jesus spoken within the
crucifixion account, I’ve usually thought that this is probably the greatest
example of forgiveness that we can ever have.
But in reading this from the perspective of “compassion”, it has blown
my mind even more. Compassion is defined
as the deep feeling of sharing the suffering of another, together with the
inclination to give aid or support or to show mercy.
In
trying to find a story or recollection about compassion, I didn’t think that I
could find anything that would in any way come close to the order of magnitude
of the compassion which Jesus is demonstrating.
Here is Jesus on the cross in the midst of his own suffering and dying,
and yet his concern is for us and in making sure that we know we are forgiven
for our part in putting him there. He’s
the one suffering, yet he continues to show us mercy. His focus isn’t on his own suffering but in
wanting to be sure to alleviate any potential suffering on our part.
This
account, for me, is the quintessence of compassion.
Saturday February 23, 2008
Luke
23:42-43:
Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when
you come into your kingdom.[a]" Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth,
today you will be with me in paradise."
There
are four lessons I learned from Luke 23:42-43.
Jesus saves ALL people without consideration
of past or present actions.
Jesus
could have replied to this criminal—It is too late for
you because your entire life was dominated by the world and its desires. Accusations of not following Him as he
traveled or even listening to His teachings were not wielded on this man like
the Roman guard’s whip used on Him.
Jesus
looked into this man’s heart and saw a child of God that was ALWAYS redeemable.
Asking for salvation is unlimited, it can
happen at any time and any place.
“It
is too late for me; I have sinned too many times in my life.” How often I have heard this phrase. Luke shows otherwise. A person on the brink of death can ask for
God’s grace.
Christian discipleship supersedes our current
situation.
Jesus
was nailed on a cross, in physical and spiritual pain. He could have ignored this meek request of
possibly one of the lowest citizens of
Truth is always the best answer.
As
my faith deepens, I find it is easier to tell the TRUTH, with compassion, during
any situation even if the result is not positive. Telling the truth is another way I show my
Christian faith.
Prayer: GOD thank you for your GRACE that is always
there for us to receive regardless, and give use the strength and compassion to
be your truthful disciple at all times.
Sunday February 24, 2008
Matthew
26:40:
Then he returned to his disciples and found
them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?"
he asked Peter.
I
selected this verse, because when I first read it I thought I would write about
the same type of interaction I have with my family, or to be more exact, my
children. Jesus had asked someone to do
something and they didn’t do what He asked.
Does that sound like anyone you know? I know I can identify with this
all too easily. “Could you
(take your pick) put your clothes in the hamper, clean your room,
shovel the walk, etc. like I asked you?”
But
the longer I pondered what I would write, the more I realized that Jesus might
just as well be asking me, with the apparent disappointment in his tone,
“Couldn’t you ….. like I asked?”
I
think of all the things I should be doing to live reflecting the light of the
Lord. How many times have I let God down by my thoughts and my actions? In the
verse Jesus sounds so perturbed by the way these men have let him down by not
doing what he asked. He sounds like He is saying, “Am I asking SO much of you?”
I
know what God wants from me, but I know that I let him down just as the men in
the Bible verse let him down. Were they too lazy, or too tired, or did they
just not listen? And what about me? I know what is
asked of me, can I just do it?
Prayer:
Lord,
help me to listen to your word, to hear what you say, and to do what you ask.