Tension and Transition

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.

New Growth

I see a theme or connection, especially between the Jeremiah and the Romans texts, but the John passage fits in as well. Jeremiah 11:16 says, "The Lord once called you, 'A green olive tree, fair with goodly fruit;' but with the roar of a great tempest he will set fine to it, and its branches will be consumed." In Romans 6:11 Paul says, "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." The olive tree, which represents Israel (the people of God), consumed in sin like a mighty fire, has been nurtured and brought back to life in the death and resurrection of Jesus. It reminds me of what happens in the seasons after fire purges a forest area. Slowly new growth returns and, in time, the forest is restored. In the death and resurrection of Jesus, in which we share, God is bringing new growth for the community of faith. John 8:34-35 says, "Jesus answered them, 'Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household…'" Sin leaves us prone to death and estranged from God. But through Jesus Christ we find that we are nurtured, cared for, and allowed to grow into what we were meant to be: a pleasant planting of God.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Here are some thoughts I have based on the readings for today from the Daily Lectionary. We are currently in Year 1, the 3rd week of Lent. Quotatations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.

Jeremiah 8:4-7, 18-9:6-- Verses 8:22-9:1 say "Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored? O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people!" God's poor people--Judah-- have within their grasp the power to be restored. It is God's word which is just as close and personal to them as the resin of the Styrax tree, a healing ointment. Incidentally, this morning my wife said she was very happy to be reminded that there is a balm in Gilead. I guess that would be her verse for the day from Jeremiah as well.

Romans 5:1-11--I've underlined vs. 3-5: "And not only that, but we also boast in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts thought the Holy Spirit that has been given to us." This whole chapter is powerful, but this portion on finding hope in the struggles we face is especially moving to me.

I'm not crazy about John 8:12-20. (I notice we skipped the woman caught in adultery.) But vs. 12 is helpful: "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.'" Sometimes I find myself in some pretty dim places. It is good to know that Jesus is the light that can lead me home!