Tuesday, March 20, 2007

The Word is Relevant

Jim:
I've really enjoyed the connection I found in the readings this morning!

Jeremiah 17:19-27
Here I focused on verses 19 and 20, "Thus said the Lord to me: Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, and say to them: hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates." Jeremiah goes on to condemn the practice of working on the sabbath day as one of the problems in the relationship between God and the people. But the fact that it was in the gates of the city that God's word was to be proclaimed shows the relevance of that word for the public square. God's word matters to people in their daily living, in their daily activities.

Romans 7:13-25
This passage helped me to understand where the relevance comes from. Paul is bemoaning the fact that he does not do what he wants, but the very thing that he hates (v 15). Then in verse 25 he sums up the struggle this way, "So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin." The reason why the word of God is relevant in the gates of the city is because all of us are struggling with the powers of sin and death and because in Jesus Christ God offers us all grace and salvation from the struggle.

John 6:16-27
The gospel reading adds to this theme with verse 27, "(Jesus said) Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." In other words, the grace of God that is offered to us all, that meets us in our struggle with sin and death, is the "food that endures" and the food toward which we should be working in our lives.

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