Good Morning Friends,
Today we consider the manner and method of the love made manifest in the lives of the vulnerable. Today we consider the truth, even though it is hard to comprehend, what exists at the intersection of grace and the cross, at the convergence of life, love, and the law, and in the relationship of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. It is here that we are amazed on this Valentine’s Day to discover we are children of God. It is here we act as we seek to answer today’s question in the affirmative. Can We Love More In The Tension Between Authority and Vulnerability, Confession and Forgiveness?
Scripture: See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
1 John 3:1-3 (NRSV)
Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you. Many are the torments of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
Psalm 32:1-11 (NRSV)
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The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a leprous disease on the skin of his body, he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. he is leprous, he is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him unclean; the disease is on his head. The person who has the leprous disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be disheveled; and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, “Unclean, unclean.” He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.
Leviticus 13: 1-2, 44-46 (NRSV)
A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.
Mark 1:40-45 (NRSV)
Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Luke 10:25-37 (NRSV)
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
1 Corinthians 10: 31 -11: 1 (NRSV)
Message: We really should not casually rush by the words in today’s scripture selection. The ideas…. the grandeur of these themes is not trivial. Stop and ponder the truth being shared for it proclaims that which was manifested in Christ. For Christ was willing to risk what was surely prophetic but also taboo. Jesus was victorious but also vulnerable. Historically the touching of a leper for a Jew was unthinkable and so distasteful as to not be mentioned. It should leave us amazed that it happened. It should be felt in our gut and draw out our emotions. We are to feel the tension in our bowels. The experience is to be palpable. This same kind of challenge is seen in the story of the Good Samaritan. Here we see the uncommon love on the road to Jericho. In both, the love appears to us like a mustard seed, tiny and seemingly vulnerable. And friends, know that this is the same love that is the key to the power of the universe. For it grows and flourishes in surprising ways. And here we might just see that the only cultural good we bring as Christians are those things in which we take a risk and act upon it in faith. Here we help to create a culture of love made manifest not just in the lives of lepers and the wounded but in our neighbors and especially the lives of children…. where children of privilege and children of striving, both become children of grace. It is here in this tension a leper is healed by a Jew…It is here a Samaritan helps a neighbor in need. It is here we all hopefully begin to understand the privilege of being in a Community of Children of God.
And So, in pity but first a little indignation Jesus heals the leper. Perhaps so too for the Good Samaritan. But in both there is finally pity and compassion and a touch that puts love above the law. And so too today we are called as the Body of Christ to be deeply moved, for Jesus has come to us… people damaged by sin that like leprosy eats away at us and causes us to lose our feeling toward what is right and good. Like leprosy we are confronted each day with something we cannot get rid of by ourselves, something that will ultimately destroy us… We all are wounded. That is until Jesus comes, and looks at our insides, comes to us offering to turn us into thankful Christians. And when he comes to us, we are to accept His touch, and when we see others in need we are to act. He asks we follow Him and directs us to obey. Here we too face the truth that Jesus desires the Good Samaritan to be in each of us. We each need the Good Samaritan in each other. When this Body of Believers is freed through faith and love we flourish despite the tension between authority and vulnerability but also perhaps because of it growing. Love in the form of compassion is the characteristic we are to imitate. It helps us to change our perspective in a way that honors God and take risks that help to grow our faith.
Pray we have the faith to believe in Jesus. Pray we accept his healing so we might become a means of healing for others. Pray we begin to feel again the compassion in our gut…those butterflies of metamorphous. Pray we risk when others turn away. Pray we realize that it takes reason and faith, but the reward is a life transformed…eternal life. Pray we realize that we can flourish in the tension between authority and vulnerability. Pray we realize that being in the tension is often the place Christians really glorify God. Pray we are shaped in the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healing upon us. Pray we are willing to see grace at work in the lives of others. Pray we have a holy respect for the power of love and a willingness to share it alongside the powerless. Pray our Christian identity influences us live in eternal love in the tension of life. Pray we are born again as Children of God. Pray we are kingdom announcers that model the themes of our birthright as followers of Jesus.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 