Good Morning Friends,
We really need to come up with some new language to describe the world in which we live. The social justice and civil rights and human rights and political verbiage just does not seem to solicit the right internal and external responses.
Someone on the alt-left and another on the alt-right might agree if we had a better language for enlightening the real situation by touching our hearts, but it seems we are always being scammed by people who have little interest in either’s agendas. I wonder how they might be reached to experience Christ. Today we have some interesting language to convey a message about love that might help. From Jeremiah we have a passage from his little book of consolation about tough love and from Matthew one on puppy love and who gets to eat at the table. This kind of message is relevant when we undergo the chastening of the Lord, and realize the chastening is because we are being loved by God. Today’s lectionary passage from Jeremiah opens with God reassuring all the families of Israel that the Lord will not cease to be their God, and they His people. Our New Testament passage gives us warrant to extend this to include all who are chosen in Christ from the foundation of the world. Here we find grace not just in the wilderness experiences of our own lives but at a table with Jesus. Together they demonstrate God’s everlasting love that continues to draw His people not because of their merits, but because of God’s grace, kindness and everlasting love. Honestly, it is easy to get complacent about this, for we do not decide who has been chosen. So, I wonder, Are We As Leaders Conservative Enough And Liberal Enough In Witnessing Our Faith To Scammers?
Scripture: At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus says the Lord: The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall take your tambourines, and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit. For there shall be a day when sentinels will call in the hill country of Ephraim: “Come, let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.” For thus says the Lord: Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, “Save, O Lord, your people, the remnant of Israel.”
Jeremiah 31:1-7 (NRSV)
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
Matthew 15:21-28 (NRSV)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.
Ephesians 1:2-4 (NRSV)
Message: The book of Jeremiah is mostly, but not exclusively, a book about God’s judgment. But there is a part about grace and love that we see also played out in the story of the persistent Canaanite woman seeking healing for her daughter in our Matthew text. Undoubtedly Jesus was praying when confronted with the situation of the Canaanite woman. He was always praying, and this situation was one that needed much prayer. Everything was wrong with that woman in Canaanite-Jewish relations. She was the wrong gender, the wrong religion, and the wrong nationality. But she still spoke up for her convictions because she believed that Jesus Christ could heal her daughter. She had within her the courage and boldness which nourished and strengthened her faith. To test her sanity, Jesus called her a puppy instead of the term dog that would have been common for the time. And the woman was not put off in the least. Then she comes back with one of the great lines in the Bible, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” So too, we are not to take things so personally. We are to realize our collective spiritual potential comes only when we step outside our comfort zone and trust. Of course, we are not to trust scammers. We are to trust that God has our best interest in hand, because then we can let go of our fears and prayerfully allow the new words of God’s grace to guide us forward in our search of healing. Friends, God’s solution for the problem of our disobedient condition is meant for everyone. Thankfully Paul too was sent to bring God’s good news to those considered religious rejects. But the work is not yet done. We are to stand firm in the mercy our loving Lord has freely provided, but also be willing to share it. To prepare us for this it would be wise to examine the actions of the characters in today’s scripture and take notice of how we can apply their situation to ours. It is about overcoming barriers. For example, the passage from Matthew is about a woman who had three cultural barriers for that time. First, she was a woman, second, she was a Gentile, and third, she was a Canaanite. She had multiple challenges. In like manner, God challenges us in our Christian walk. We have a challenge before us, one that is not going to come without its share of difficulties. But know this, if we try to do it alone, we are doomed for defeat. However, if we allow God to lead us, we will enter the place of promise with victory. So, learn from the Canaanite woman. Learn that God can grant us faith, a faith so great that it will not give up even in the face of uncertainty, a faith so great that it seeks Jesus Christ relentlessly, a faith so great that it believes God’s blessings are too big for one nation, a faith so great that it never quits.
And So, the challenge is in risking on the one hand to extending the table of grace and on the other believing in the grace of God enough to risk actions that glorify God. This takes courage and if combined with action and grace becomes healing and the essence of leadership regardless of the words used. So, we are not to take things so personally. We are to realize our collective spiritual healing comes only when we step outside our comfort zone and trust God. And when we trust that God has our best interest in hand, we can let go of our fears and prayerfully allow the words of God’s grace to guide us forward in search of healing. Leadership here begins with understanding and accepting the dream that our witness in the Spirit changes us and those around us. We need to see the strengths in others and ourselves rather than persistently working to improve weaknesses and in the process create negativity. We are to spend more time focused on the strength of God. We are to speak hopefully. So, if you don’t think others can rise to meet challenges, get out of leadership. Instead serve others by helping them reach their dreams. The object is to provide a healing, not a cure or just some care. For a cure and care is not synonymous with what Jesus provides. Healing is what we are to seek, and it can be instantaneous, however, is often a lifelong process of recovery and growth despite, and maybe because of, enduring physical, emotional, or spiritual assault. It requires time. And so, healing as with leadership is much more than getting better or having our problems go away. Healing and leadership imply growth, development, and maturation in the Spirit. Briefly, both healing and leadership is essentially change guided by God. It takes time and energy and struggle, but they both teach us about God and help us to become more sensitive and aware to the details of life. And this invites humility and faith to open our hearts to the truth, beauty and grace of our God who transforms and heals and energizes our entire being in the light of Christ.
Pray we realize that God finds pleasure when our faith persists despite pressure. Pray God grant us the faith of a woman who had nowhere else to turn except to worship at Jesus’ feet. Pray we realize with some sense of joy that our loving Lord delights to show mercy and so should we. Pray we successfully overcome crises and hardships without fleeing from challenges or concealing problems. Pray we realize that courage, action and grace combine to create healing and also leadership. Pray we keep praying. Pray we do not give up before God reveals the miracle of healing. Pray we lean into the moment with faith that God will provide a way for us to witness to God’s grace. Pray we are thankful that God adapted to us when He became human. Pray we learn the words to describe how to come down from the little pedestal of our personality so we might adapt ourselves to the mentalities, preferences, and needs of an ever-widening community. Pray we successfully overcome crises and hardships without fleeing from challenges or concealing problems. Pray right now along with the Holy Spirit that our words begin to transform our church, country and community into a house healed by new words of loving prayer. Pray we realize that too many people still live their lives in spiritual darkness when they can live in the life changing light of Jesus the Christ. Pray we do not try to scam God.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 