Job 40:1-24
Acts 15:36-16:1
John 11:53-12:8
There are arguments and disagreements sprinkled throughout all of our passages today. They begin with Job whose complaints against God elicit a pointed response. “Will you condemn me that you may be justified?” God asks (Job 40:8). I believe we may safely assume this to be a rhetorical question. In the reading from Acts Paul and Barnabas have a falling out over the presence of Mark. “The disagreement became so sharp,” Acts tell us, “that they parted company…” (Acts 15:39). Finally in the gospel of John, not only are the chief priests and Pharisees plotting to kill Jesus (John 11:57), but when Mary anoints Jesus with a costly perfume Judas strongly objects (12:11). Then Jesus reacts just as strongly against Judas’s words (v. 7). Whew. So much conflict in so few verses.
But consider this. Job is on the path to a greater understanding of God’s relationship with humanity at this time of conflict. And after Paul and Barnabas parts ways in Acts Paul and Silas encounter Timothy who becomes a integral part of Paul’s ministry. And in John Jesus is headed toward Jerusalem and his impending passion. Sometimes tension and conflict are the catalysts that cause growth. Sometimes transition comes with pain. Sometimes finding the new thing in God’s plan means a sharp break with the old thing that has gone before. Sometimes is takes a lot to kill our faulty assumptions. Sometimes we must experience the wilderness before we may arrive at the promise.
I would never suggest that all change requires pain, or that conflict is always an indications of God’s work. I do want to suggest that there are those times when we have got to let go of what makes us comfortable (or what we think makes us comfortable) in order to find that place where God intends us to be. And whatever the case, as Paul reminds us in Romans 8, God is fully capable of working through any circumstances—indeed nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:28, 39). So we should trust in God as we move along, always looking for the next sign of grace that will remind us of God’s abiding presence.
Prayer: Thanks be to the God of hope, who, even in the midst of the most trying of times, is at work to bring about the divine will. Lord, help us to live with patience and openness to those times of transition that we may also be open to those around you and may offer help and comfort to others as they pass through their own wildernesses.
Showing posts with label Acts 15. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Acts 15. Show all posts
Monday, September 13, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
"Unbind Him and Let Him Go"
Acts 15:12-21
John 11:30-44
In the readings for today from Acts and from John we find Jesus and James making similar statements though in much different situations. In Acts, James concludes the discussion in Jerusalem about how to include gentile Christians—those who have not converted from Judaism—into the church. He cites some very specific prohibitions, based in large part on their universality. Furthermore, he says, for centuries these words have been read aloud on the Sabbath in every city, meaning that it is not unreasonable that even gentiles would have heard them and recognized their value (Acts 15:21). In doing this, James frees gentiles Christians from other proscriptions of the law, like circumcision. Unbound now, in a way, these believers are free to live as full participants in the life of the community.
When Lazarus responds to Jesus call to come out of the tomb he is still dressed as a corpse for burial, that is, with hands and feet bound and his face covered with a sheet. “Unbind him and let him go,” Jesus says to the bystanders (John 11:44). And in doing so Jesus frees Lazarus from the snare of death—for a while—and sets him free to live as God intends him to live.
How do these words apply to you and me? First of all, like the gentile believers and Lazarus, too, we have been freed from the bonds that have clung tightly to us, so tightly that we can hardly move nor see where we are going. And secondly, in light of our salvation we are now free to live as new beings—like the new Christians that the gentiles became, and with the newness of life that Lazarus had before him. In the film “V For Vendetta” much is made of the fact that once one has stepped close to death there is no longer a need to fear it. I would suggest that for Lazarus, at least, once one has stepped so closely to new life there is no need to fear life or death any longer. In Jesus Christ we, like Lazarus and the gentile converts before us, have been unbound and set free.
Prayer: Lord, many things weigh us down and cause us to stumble. Help us to let go of all that binds us, and help us to become the people you have created us to be. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
John 11:30-44
In the readings for today from Acts and from John we find Jesus and James making similar statements though in much different situations. In Acts, James concludes the discussion in Jerusalem about how to include gentile Christians—those who have not converted from Judaism—into the church. He cites some very specific prohibitions, based in large part on their universality. Furthermore, he says, for centuries these words have been read aloud on the Sabbath in every city, meaning that it is not unreasonable that even gentiles would have heard them and recognized their value (Acts 15:21). In doing this, James frees gentiles Christians from other proscriptions of the law, like circumcision. Unbound now, in a way, these believers are free to live as full participants in the life of the community.
When Lazarus responds to Jesus call to come out of the tomb he is still dressed as a corpse for burial, that is, with hands and feet bound and his face covered with a sheet. “Unbind him and let him go,” Jesus says to the bystanders (John 11:44). And in doing so Jesus frees Lazarus from the snare of death—for a while—and sets him free to live as God intends him to live.
How do these words apply to you and me? First of all, like the gentile believers and Lazarus, too, we have been freed from the bonds that have clung tightly to us, so tightly that we can hardly move nor see where we are going. And secondly, in light of our salvation we are now free to live as new beings—like the new Christians that the gentiles became, and with the newness of life that Lazarus had before him. In the film “V For Vendetta” much is made of the fact that once one has stepped close to death there is no longer a need to fear it. I would suggest that for Lazarus, at least, once one has stepped so closely to new life there is no need to fear life or death any longer. In Jesus Christ we, like Lazarus and the gentile converts before us, have been unbound and set free.
Prayer: Lord, many things weigh us down and cause us to stumble. Help us to let go of all that binds us, and help us to become the people you have created us to be. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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