Acts 9:32-35 They Saw Him and Turned to the Lord

 

Observation: Peter is in Lydda, about 20 miles northwest of Jerusalem. There is already a group of Christ-believers there. Peter speaks to one of them Aeneas, who has been paralyzed for eight years, and tells him "Jesus Christ heals you, get up and make your bed!" This story shows a little of Peter's forceful personality. Jesus in this past Sunday's Gospel lesson began his healing of Bartimaeus by asking, "what do you want me to do for you?" Peter, on the other hand, simply approaches Aeneas and announces that Jesus is healing him, and that's that! Still, when Aeneas is able to get up, everyone present "turns to the Lord." 

Application: A Biblical healing story isn't a healing story without the "punch line." In a joke, the punch line is the destination, the make-or-break moment that will tell you if it was worth listening to the joke. The intended result, of course, is that you'll laugh. 

The "punch line" of a healing story, however, is not the "laugh line" but the "faith line." A healing story isn't done when a person's ailment has been shown to be gone. What always, always, always follows on its heels is the response of those nearby: awe and faith in God. The punch line of Aeneas' story is the people "see him and turn to God." That's the twofold purpose of healing in the scriptures: yes, Jesus heals simply to alleviate the pain of one individual, but also, Jesus heals to turn people's attention to God.

Today I'm thinking about my own experiences of healing, of new life, and of growth. What are the "punch lines?" What has Jesus done in my life that can cause people to "see and turn to the Lord?" I want to tell my story in such a way that the punch line is not, "Hey, aren't I blessed and lucky that God did this for me?" but rather, "Look at our amazing God, who loves, heals and saves, and can do the same for you!"

[Today is the commemoration of the hymnwriter Paul Gerhardt, so for my prayer I want to share stanza 4 of his hymn, "All My Heart Again Rejoices", ELW #273.]

Prayer: You, my Lord, I'll ever cherish; 

though my breath fail in death, I will never perish; 

by your side in light eternal

I shall be endlessly filled with joy supernal.

Amen.     

1 Samuel 10:17-25 Hiding Among the Baggage

 

Observation: The Prophet Samuel is, begrudgingly, helping the people of Israel select a king. He knows this is a rejection of God's leadership. He knows they're just trying to conform to what other nations are doing. But God has allowed this to happen, so Samuel goes along with it. By casting lots, they discern God's will, narrowing it down to one tribe, one family, and even one son among the family: Saul, son of Kish. The problem is, Saul is nowhere to be found. He's out hiding among the baggage. That's not a problem for God: even when Saul hides from his calling, he can't stop God's plan for his life. 

Application: I may never have run and "hid among the baggage," like Saul. I may not have booked passage to Tarshish, like the prophet Jonah. But more than once, I've avoided a difficult conversation, allowed myself to be distracted by something I know isn't part of my mission, or put off a task I know is essential for God's purpose in my life. This beautiful passage from 1 Samuel is a great reminder that God is merciful, and God is persistent. We all stumble and make mistakes. That doesn't take us off the hook. God waits us out, goes after us, forgives us, heals us, and calls us all over again. Our procrastination, our flakiness, even our outright stubbornness, can't mess up God's plan for our lives. We don't have that kind of power. Thanks be to God, and let's get on with it. 

Prayer: God, find me when I hide from my calling. Help me cast aside my excuses as quickly and easily as you do, and pursue your call. In Jesus' name, amen.  

Where is Jesus in Deuteronomy 24???

 

Observation: Before entering the Promised Land, Moses gives laws to the Israelites about divorce. I just have to put this out there: as a twenty-first century reader, I find these laws objectionable, to say the least. They make me mad. First, only a man can initiate a divorce, and he can do it for whatever random reason his wife does not "please" him. Second, once the man has divorced the woman, and she gets remarried and divorced again, the first man can't take her back because she's been "defiled." YIKES. I'm not going to sit here and defend this. It may have contributed to the social fabric of the Israelites 3,000 years ago, but I see no indication that God intended for everyone in every culture since then to follow it to the letter. Even by Jesus' time it's clear that at least women were also divorcing their husbands.

One thing I do appreciate is the idea of giving a newlywed couple a year to just be together, without pressing the husband into military service. I wish our own society made life a little easier on newlywed couples. 

Application: I'll make no apologies. I read scripture from my own cultural and theological standpoint. Some people will tell you they don't; that they take scripture literally and they just simply believe what the Bible says, period. Nobody really does that. Nobody really does that. We're not robots. We don't live in a vacuum. We bring our baggage to the Bible, every time, even when we swear up and down that we don't (which you shouldn't do if you read the Bible literally because Jesus said), and the Holy Spirit helps us juggle it in order for us to hear what God needs us to hear. 

I read the Bible from a Lutheran lens. I put Jesus, my incarnate, crucified and risen Lord, at the center. I'm not sorry for that. I think it's the right way to read the Bible, and it's pretty clear to me that it's what the first Christians (including some who were authors of the Bible) did. The parts of the Bible that show me a God willing to enter into our suffering and offer us love and blessing are the parts I emphasize. The parts that don't are, frankly, less important to me. The Bible is not a democracy. Every verse doesn't get a vote. Jesus is Lord and what he says goes. 

When I come across a tough Bible passage like this one--the kind that makes me mad--my bets play is to bring it to Jesus, ask him about it, and figure it out from there. This one's easier, because the Pharisees actually already asked him about this, and he said "Yeah, that's a dumb law; don't do that." Jesus asked his followers to show a higher standard of love for their neighbor than what this law required. His words in themselves give us some heartburn, because this high standard isn't one we can meet. Thankfully, our inability to live up to what Jesus wants is not the end of the story. The story ends when Jesus takes our sinfulness into himself, dies with it, and comes back to embrace us once again. I make no apology to steering the conversation back to that, anytime. That's the Gospel. And if you look for it in the Bible, and in the world around you, you'll find it in unexpected places.

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for expecting so much of me, and for showing us we can do better. Thank you, also, for doing better on our behalf, so that when we fall short--and we always do--we can rest in your grace. Amen.