Wisdom 1:16-2:11,21-24; Col. 1:1-14; Luke 6:1-11

Julian of Norwich

Many of you have found these last couple weeks unsettling.  Trust me, I feel ya!

As we turn our hearts to scripture, it is unsettling as well.  Much of scripture is a jolt – a disruption – an upsetting of norms and ideals.

Jesus is not just breaking social norms today, but is violating one of the 10 Commandments.  It is quite difficult to understand what is going on when Jesus himself breaks the Sabbath commandment.  Jesus cures on the Sabbath.  He teaches on the Sabbath.  He allows his disciples to pluck heads of grain and eat the grain.  All this is considered work.

How are we to understand what is going on?

Jesus ends one of the conversations with: “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”  That is certainly one answer, that God doesn’t have to follow God’s own laws.

Another answer is that Jesus is reinterpreting the entirety of the Law.  No longer is the Law meant to restrict, but to set free.  It is not that the Law is obsolete, but must always be read through the lens of love.  And so, in that respect, we are not to focus on the fact that these heads of grain are being plucked (i.e. work) and that they are most probably stolen from a field that is not theirs.  Instead we are to focus on their hunger, and God’s desire to provide for us in times of need.

It is with this spirit that Colossians begins.  “We have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord.”

This is something that many in churches today want to ignore: wisdom.  Coming to a knowledge of God’s will and cultivating wisdom are lifelong endeavors.  We are not asked to pick up our Bibles and check our minds at the door, but to wrestle with the struggles of the Law and love.  We are meant to breathe it in deeply and come to wisdom and understanding.

This is not an easy endeavor, but one that requires patience and fortitude.

-Matt

Dan. 5:13-30; 1 John 5:13-20(21); Luke 5:1-11

The story of Daniel hits its apex today with the mysterious hand writing on the wall, and Daniel being brought in to interpret the strange words.

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN.

This passage is so wrought with allegory, double meanings, and puns that it is almost impossible to tackle those things in a Morning Reflection.  I remember how we studied this in Thursday Noon Bible Study a while back, and needed many weeks to fully unpack all the implications of chapter 5.

What I know of Daniel, as I step back from the story and meditate on Daniel, is of his courage and fortitude. 

He speaks daring words to a man who has a lot of power over him.  He is rewarded for his honest assessment.  I wish I could say the same for the king, whose punishment is swift and sever – that night he was killed.

Before this happens, Daniel has been put 3^rd in command.  It is a story that is somewhat reminiscent of Joseph and the Pharaoh.  As I think back on Joseph, what I realize is that it was not his specific words that were remembered either, but his actions, and his way of being.  It was the example he set and the decisions he followed that people remember.

Daniel has a lot of preliminary words to his interpretation.  And they almost fade into the background of the story of his life.  Perhaps that is part of the point.  Preachers are rarely remembered for the content of their sermons, but how they interacted with the congregation, and what they did, and how they said it.  The same is true in so many of our lives.  The DOING almost seems to trump the SAYING.

Daniel’s message to us is, in many ways, just that – make sure what you do and say match.  Be an instrument of God, not of yourselves.  Don’t be full of hot air about following God but do nothing about it.

It’s a daily challenge.  But it’s a good one.

-Matt

Dan. 5:1-12; 1 John 5:1-12; Luke 4:38-44

In the midst of Luke we see Jesus healing so many.  Not surprisingly, Luke, most likely a physician, zoned in on Jesus’ command of the physical world.  His earthly ministry is seen in such color and vibrancy in Luke’s gospel.

But it is here we also see Jesus isolating himself.  We get a sense that there is a time to be in community and a time to remove oneself from the mix.  “At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place.  And the crowds were looking for him….”

Jesus reminds us that there is a rhythm to life.  There is a time to be with people, and a time to be by oneself.  This is the spiritual life cycle of any believer, introvert or extrovert.  God speaks to us in different ways when we are alone, or when we are engaged in community.

Finding spiritual maturity means finding a balance between these two.

One of the joys of being Presbyterian is seeing the Holy Spirit REFORMING the Church at all times.  Our polity changes as our needs as a church change.  Some see this as Jesus finally showing up, touching the church, and healing it.  Others feel like Jesus has deserted us and view certain changes within the church as evil.

I trust in the process, and the speaking of the Holy Spirit through the voice of God’s people.  I mean, are we going to believe God is real, or aren’t we!?

The rhythm of our life together means that sometimes this becomes a push and pull, for systems don’t like change.  It also means God is going to speak to us in different ways at different times in history, and we best be OK with that.

Our new lives together mean that we will need to reach out to God in new ways, and seek continued guidance from the Holy Spirit.

May God bless us in our coming and our going, in our struggles and in our celebrations.

-Matt

Dan. 4:28-37; 1 John 4:7-21; Luke 4:31-37

Jesus breaks one of the 10 Commandments today, which becomes a serious signal that something important is up with this “Jesus of Nazareth”.  Jesus heals on the Sabbath, a clear violation of the command of God.  A man possessed with an unclean spirit declares Jesus to be the Holy One of God, but is silenced, rebuked, and called out of the man.

Three possibilities: 1) Jesus is in fact who the spirit says he is, “the Holy One of God” and is therefore above and beyond human law.  2) Jesus is radically reinterpreting the Law, or 3) Both.

I believe it is “both.”  This kind of authority and power is dealt with by Luke in a curious and shocking way.  He tells the story very plainly and without emotion, almost like a good news reporter, as if it is not a big deal.  Of course it is a big deal, and a shocking one, to any good Jew.  “He did WHAT??  He HEALED on the Sabbath??  Is he MAD?”  Instead Luke remains calm in telling the story.

Luke also focuses on the amazement of the crowd.  He ends with “And a report about him began reach every place in the region.”  What we discover about this Jesus of Nazareth is that he is no ordinary rabbi – he is more than an astounding teacher – more than a rabble-rouser going around stirring up the authorities.  Instead, we discover a man who seems to above the law – divine – who cares for the people in a deep and profound way.

Of course Luke takes it a step further than that even.  For Luke, he portrays Jesus as more than a man who heals the lepers or paralytics, the unclean spirits and the blind.  Jesus also comes to save those on the fringes in a different way – the prostitutes, the foreigners, the non-Jews, the folks struggling to follow the Law.

In this way, we see the Holy One of God at work.  We see someone who has authority over the sin itself, and who is saying “It is OK.  I am here to lend a hand.  You too can be blessed by God.”

Jesus turns out to be an enormous comfort to the lost, the poor, and the helpless.  The only people he really comes down hard on are those misusing their power and authority, like the Sadducees and Pharisees.  It all culminates in a darn good story – pure GOOD news!

-Matt

Dan.4:19-27; 1 John 3:19-4:6; Luke 4:14-30

Following God is a difficult thing.

And in today’s scriptures we see how the difficulties of life play out.

Daniel interprets King Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream.  What he saw terrified him, because sharing it might put his life in jeopardy!  He had bad news.  Not only did he see a great tree, allegedly representing the king, but he saw that tree being cut down.  He delivers news that potentially may lose him his job, or worse yet, his head.  Nevertheless, he moves forward with truth, declaring that self-glorification is not the goal, but God’s message of truth – even if it is a prediction of affliction and call for restoration.

The letter of 1 John continues his central theme of love.  “And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.”  Those who obey see that God abides in them.  He helps the people discern between a spirit of error and a spirit of truth.  “Every Spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.”

Time and again in scripture, God delivers difficult news.  Witnessing to that which is right or true inevitably means that lines are being drawn.  If there is a “truth” then there is a “non-truth.”  It doesn’t mean the world is black and white, but it certainly means there are sheep and goats.

What I learn from Daniel is that sometimes we are entrusted with harsh or difficult news.  We are compelled to break the news as well.  This could be breaking it to ourselves – confronting selfish or destructive behaviors.  It could be calling others to accountability.

In all of this, we are told to do this in love.  John is very clear.  Even in breaking bad news, or calling someone’s hand, we are to do it in love.  So is the challenge with Christian accountability.

I have to be honest – the more I walk down this path, the more I realize what a challenge the Christian life is.  Anyone who thinks this is easy is out of their mind.

-Matt