Tag: CofE Lectionary

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2014 Lectionary Ramblings Lectionary Ramblings

July 24th 2014: 2 Corinthians 3

Read 2 Corinthians 3 here

This is a rich and vibrant passage. I would encourage you to read it more than once today. The joy, almost exuberance, Paul shows in his writings to the Corinthian Church are something to behold and to delve deeply into. For today though, I want to focus on the last three verses. Here they are:

“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

If we turn to the Lord, the veil (the inability to see/perceive/feel/know the truth) is taken away from us, and as far as we are able to, we can grasp on to the majestic wonder of what God has done for us in Jesus and what is on offer to us. Many of us who have been in church a long time may have grown tired of phrases like “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”, but how gloriously true it has been since before the foundation of the world and how gloriously true it remains. The freedom of the Lord is exhibited in us as we are made more and more like Him. We are made more and more like Him every single day, whether we feel it or not. The deposit of the Spirit has already been placed in us when God made us in His image, designed to be like Him, know Him as far as we are able, and to be known by Him. God causes us, every day, to be made more and more like Him. He does it because He wants to. He declares worth over us which leads Him to welcome us in to Himself. In this way we can live out having been made one with Christ.

The Spirit of the Lord is with you, in you, beside you, before you, behind you drawing you on. So, when we say that there is freedom where the Spirit of the Lord is, what we are really saying is that there is freedom for all, should they choose to receive it. What a gift to be given. What a gift to share with the world. Because of Jesus, we have freedom today.

Do you feel free? What’s helping or hindering you in living out your freedom this morning?

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2014 Lectionary Ramblings Lectionary Ramblings

July 21st 2014: Luke 19:28-40

Read Luke 19:28-40 here

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” Today’s reading gives us a stark picture. Jesus has his disciples steal a colt (it seems) as He and His followers come in to Jerusalem. No-one seems to mention whether or not this is morally ok!

Jews knowing prophecy might well have perceived His entering of Jerusalem on a donkey as fulfilment of prophecy (Zech 9:9). It’s likely that the crowd who cried “hosanna” were expecting a powerful political or militaristic saviour to wrest control of Jerusalem from the Romans. The disappointment and resentment the Jewish authorities were able to stir up a few short days later as Jesus was handed over to Pilate may well stem form the subverting of expectations which Jesus’s “triumphal” entry in to Jerusalem almost certainly would have been. Jesus came not as an all-guns-blazing political usurper, but as a servant king. Even though this was not what Israel wanted at this point, it was what it, and the whole world, needed. Jesus “failed” in order to succeed. He did so whilst remaining in complete control of Himself and what He was doing, and trusting His Father with His life.

Sometimes it is easy for us to demand of God that He show the strength of His arm, that He gives us victory, superiority, vindication or anything else. Jesus was due these things and more as the perfectly righteous God-man. And yet. And yet, He chose to give Himself for us all. God has given us everything we could possibly need. We are not called to run society, not given the right to be heard, to be powerful or anything else of that ilk. We’re called to serve, to humble ourselves and put the needs of others before ourselves, as Jesus ultimately modelled for us in the final week, which begins with this story. As we begin a new week, let’s ask God to bless us with the courage to humble ourselves and serve, so that He might be served and glorified.

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2014 Lectionary Ramblings Lectionary Ramblings

July 19th 2014: Luke 19:11-27

Read Luke 19:11-27 here

The Parable of the Talents is today’s reading, yet another “hard saying” of Jesus. He is, as usual, uncompromising in His denunciation of those who do not build on the gifts and responsibilities they have been given. I can imagine this parable being told theatrically and with much gesticulating as the point is rammed home. The investment that God has placed within each one of us is expected to grow, flourish and bear fruit. Fortunately, we are not alone in seeking to do this. We have God, for us, with us, within us, and we have one another, the Church to journey with. This is why it is so important that we do not isolate ourselves, particularly over issues like doctrine and ethics/morals. We have a hope, we have joy and peace to enjoy and to share, but we also have a responsibility not to rest on our laurels and let the deposit of the Spirit go to waste. We cannot earn our salvation. Only God can give. Only God can ever take away. We can, though, waste the opportunity of a lifetime. We are to love God with everything we have, love our neighbours and love ourselves. Without love it is impossible to please God, and so, out of the love that God has lavished on us and continues to lavish upon us, so let us be people who lead people to Jesus. We might be able to lead with words, or songs, but it’s much more likely that people will be led to Jesus be who we are and how we live.

What talents has God given to you? How can you use them to show people that He loves them today?

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July 18th 2014: Luke 19:1-10

Read Luke 19:1-10 here

Zacchaeus, so the song goes, was a very little man. What he lacked in stature he appears to have made up for in cunning, taking from the poor, storing up treasure for himself and caring not a jot for anyone else. Yet he was drawn to climb a tree to see Jesus. But even Zacchaeus was shocked when Jesus invited Himself around for the evening. It seems to be the one thing that Jesus needed to say to get His attention. Cutting right through to his heart, and to the heart of the matter. Instantaneously, it seems, Zacchaeus is transformed, a changed man, seeking to make amends with all he has wronged, and throwing in his lot with Jesus. Even as this life-changeing, town-changing event was taking place, and Zacchaeus was doing himself out of a nice little earner, many were grumbling, criticising Jesus for consorting with sinners, even tax collectors.

It’s easy for us to try and keep ourselves, or the Church, pure. We try to stay away from things that will damage us. We sing the right songs, read the right books, eat the right food and so on and so on. We can be prone to criticising others who do not approach God, life, faith, moral and ethical issues in the way that we do.We can walk under a cloud of righteous indignation, thinking that we are making all right around us, when actually we are the ones who suffer when we live in such a pompous and arrogant fashion. Jesus cuts through all social convention in declaring that salvation has come to the house of Zacchaeus, but he does not care. He does not care about anything apart from that another one has been added to the Kingdom. Oh that we would commit ourselves to the discipline of living with this attitude.

What’s the one thing Jesus could be saying to you today, trying to get your attention? Can you remember the first time it happened? Are you willing to open up your life and let the light shine in, so that the light of God might shine out today?

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July 17th 2014: Luke 18:31-43

Read Luke 18:31-43 here

As Jesus predicts His death for a third time (31-33) we see clearly His mastery of the situation that He was in the process of willingly submitting Himself to as He set His face towards Jerusalem. Perhaps He didn’t know what it would sound or feel like, perhaps He did, but He knew very well that He was willingly striding towards His destiny and purpose, His willing sacrifice of Himself for all mankind. It seems obvious that doubts and sufferings travelled with Him as we see later in the narrative of the Passion but, for now, Jesus seems secure and focused in His mission. As opposed to a couple of days ago, Luke is explicit that the meaning of Jesus’ words was hidden from the Disciples. It must have been quite a thought to realise what He had explained about Himself in hindsight in the months and years to come!

Verses 35-43 are dominated by the story of the blind man on the road to Jericho who recognised the Son of David, who in having mercy on him could give him what he most needed. For me, the key point to the whole exchange is not that Jesus was able to restore the man’s sight – this should come as no surprise to anyone who has been reading the gospel accounts – nor is it that the man, upon receiving his healing glorifies and praises God – this is the purpose of Jesus’s healings, to reveal God and something of His kingdom and to bring people in to relationship with Him. No, it all rests on the simple question “what do you want me to do for you?” It’s easy for us to see people in need or suffering and “divine” what we think they want or need, assuming that what is presented obviously to us is the deepest issue. I believe that Jesus saw that the barrier between this man and relationship with God was the lack of his sight, but that it was important that the blind beggar himself articulated it. What if he had said something else, such as “help me to love my neighbour more” or “help me to bring resolution in my family life”? I believe Jesus would do that too. The compassion of Jesus leads Him not to force Himself upon us, but to let us come to Him and ask for what we desire. I believe He gives us the things we need that keep us moving forward on the journey of faith, whether they be big or small. So it is not just about healing, or lengthening limbs, or gold teeth, it is about being drawn ever deeper in to the wonder of relationship with God.

What do you want Jesus to do for you today?

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July 16th 2014: Luke 18:15-30

Read Luke 18:15-30 here

“Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” says Jesus. Does this mean leaving our brains at the door or coming unthinkingly to Jesus? I don’t think so at all. A lot of the children and young people I know are highly discerning about the people they “let in” or trust. They are not indiscriminate and without sophistication. Rather it is what flows out of their hard-won trust; loyalty, obedience when necessary, willingness to learn, to be stretched and challenged, which marks a child-like faith. Are we willing to be obedient, to learn, to be stretched and challenged, or do we want to argue every point of our lives, circumstances and theology tooth and nail with Jesus until we are satisfied He has met our conditions of acceptance? We should remember we have already met His, as He welcomed us as adoptees in to His family.

What we have received, however much or however little it may have been, will pale in to the insignificance of a speck of dust compared to the inheritance we are promised in the age to come. Hold on to that, whether you love your stuff and your wealth, or you struggle to put food on the table every single day. the life, the world, the circumstances we have now, will surely all be changed at the coming of the next age. All of us will be and have the same, we’ll have God, who is love, physically in our midst as we are physically in His. Unimaginable joy. Let it be something of a fuel for us to get through the coming day.

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July 15th 2014: Luke 18:1-14

Read Luke 18:1-14 here

There are two parables today. I have to admit that I have never really understood the Parable of the Persistent Widow, so if anyone can enlighten me I’d be glad of the help! I think it is instructive that Luke feels the need to explain the parable in verse 1, as being to ensure that the disciples pray continually and don’t give up. It is quite rare for the parables to be explained, either by Jesus or the gospel writers. This must have been a particularly hard message! God’s justice will be brought to bear through persistent trust and prayer, trust and obedience, perhaps. It is for us to learn as we live what God’s justice looks like in each situation in which we find ourselves.

The parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector which closes out today’s reading would be easy to gloss over as being far more simplistic and straightforward. The Pharisee is caught being proud of himself and his righteousness under the law, whereas the Tax Collector understands what it is to desperately require the grace of God. That is an important message in itself. We need to remain aware that we are who we are because God has called us and loved us. That might well be enough but I think something else has jumped out at me on this reading: that is that it is easy for us to think that we are living with God as the Tax Collector does: full of actual humility, contrition and thankfulness, but actually living more like the Pharisee, comparing and contrasting ourselves with others, scoring our righteousness higher than that of others. Sure, we might be doing all the right things, but what does our heart look like? As Bill Hybels asked once, who are when no-one’s looking? I can be both arrogant and conceited on the one hand and downtrodden and “woe is me” on the other, however I might come across in public. I think we are called to be the same person behind closed doors and from atop whatever platform we are given. Again, this is a hard thing to do, but God’s challenge to us today is to flee from arrogant righteousness and fling ourselves afresh upon His mercy.