Hope and Grace

Jim:

Jeremiah 32:1-15
The story of Jeremiah buying the field in Anathoth is one of the most hope-filled passages in the Old Testament because it is rich with an expectaion of God's activity. Jeremiah not only trusted in what God was promising to do, he let it guide his economic decisions. Faith was a factor in everything that Jeremiah did. Buying a field in the middle of an invasion didn’t make much sense, but it demonstrated confidence in the outcome, that God’s grace would abound. Several years ago our family was driving through west Texas in some of the driest terrain I’ve ever seen, where the only vegetation was scrub brush. And yet, there by the side of the highway was a flood gage. To trust in God’s grace is to prepare for a deluge in the middle of a desert, or to buy a field when an invading army is already on the scene. How much do we allow our faith to guide our actions or to play a role in our everyday lives?

Colossians 3:18-4:18
Verse 3:6 is helpful advice. “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.” According to the notes in the Oxford Annotated Study Bible (NRSV) the term salt refers to spiritual understanding. In other words, be gracious in what you say and keep your comments spiritually grounded so that what you say may be appropriate for everyone. This is community building advice from a man who built a lot of communities in his time. If we would all follow his advice we would be far less likely to hurt others or to cause controversy.

Luke 7:36-50
The woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears gave him the opportunity to witness to God’s grace. By contrast, Simon the Pharisee (Jesus’ host) lacks the hospitality that God shows to any who repent. The thing that struck me about his passage, though, is that it is possible to be so confident in our ability to meet God’s expectations that we forget that we need God’s grace to do so, which in turn puts us in opposition to God.