Good Morning Friends,
The first mention of blue was not found in any language until about 4,500 years ago and that has led some to think it possible that people were not able to perceive it until then. Today’s devotional has a lot of loose parts for us to put together in creative ways to prompt learning about God and life and love, that you may have not seen before. I certainly hope you will see with new eyes the life of Jesus. Perhaps the Spirit will help prompt you to see in new ways. But if you do not read it and let the Holy Spirit speak to you, will never hear its message and you will never see the point of it. You see we have a big God shaped hole in our lives that needs to be filled and we each need to be responsive to being filled, but we will never see it until we desire to see it. So, today’s message is about helping us to see and listen more fully in new ways of service and more vividly too so we all might learn something about what Jesus taught and why he taught the way he did. I will do my part in putting it together, but you have a part too and God will do God’s part…the best part. If not, the words on this page may well be as pointless as all the sermons we have forgotten. And in the hope that you might remember something, I pose today’s question. So, How Do We Hear, Share And Act Upon The Word Manifested In The Spirit?
Scripture: On the third new moon after the Israelites had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you and so trust you ever after.” When Moses had told the words of the people to the Lord, the Lord said to Moses: “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and prepare for the third day, because on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, as well as a thick cloud on the mountain, and a blast of a trumpet so loud that all the people who were in the camp trembled. Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. They took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended upon it in fire; the smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln, while the whole mountain shook violently. As the blast of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses would speak and God would answer him in thunder. When the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Exodus 19:1-2, 9-11, 16-20b (NRSV)
The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord: I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holy to the Lord, the first fruits of his harvest. All who ate of it were held guilty; disaster came upon them, says the Lord. Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves? They did not say, “Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives?” I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?” Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit. Therefore once more I accuse you, says the Lord, and I accuse your children’s children. Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been such a thing. Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.
Jeremiah 2:1-13 (NRSV)
Then the disciples came and asked him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” He answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’ With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says: ‘You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn— and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.
Matthew 13:10-17 (NRSV)
Message: As I was reading today’s lectionary passages it came to me that the journey of our collective and individual experiences of God creates in us a resonance that either moves us to action and understanding or does not. Different people respond differently to the experience of God, but God is faithful to keep sowing seeds everywhere and so should we. Here the functions of parables and the experiences of our lives converge in a way that have implications. Jesus, in his teaching was constantly comparing the Kingdom of God to all sorts of common experiences. And it is nice to know what is behind the parables in the Bible, but it is important also to see what lesson there is for us related to the experiences in our lives. You see, the Holy Spirit has something to share. Parables as well as life’s experiences, and the reactions of people to those experiences serve to teach us lessons that are sometimes not openly expressed. Jesus used parables with comparisons to help people relate to what he was saying. He used something from the everyday life of the people. Things like weeds, wheat, and yeast – things that were familiar to everyone who heard Him speak. Jesus knew that if you communicate using the experiences, context, and vocabulary of the people you are trying to reach, it goes a whole lot better. But there are other reasons Jesus gives. You see parables, as our experiences in life, serve to reveal truth. And sometimes it is an inconvenient truth of people not having clean water or enough food that serves as an invitation to act compassionately and then experience God and see in a new way. What Jesus is saying is that some people will get the parables and learn from them, and they would catch and understand the truth. And one might think that this truth is for everyone, but here in the context of scripture it appears to be reserved for those committed to have a close walk with God and to live for God. Understanding is reserved for those who are serious about living for Christ. In other words, truth is for the followers of Jesus, for those who believe, but not for those who refuse to follow Him. Now this is one of the harder things to swallow for many people. Jesus talked a lot about God’s love for everybody, and God does not want anyone to perish, but wants everyone to be saved. So how do we reconcile this, and it comes down to the reality that if a person is not really interested in following Christ, then they will not understand the message and will not grasp the truth they contain. It seems that some will be ever hearing but never understanding… some will be ever seeing but never perceiving. Thankfully Jesus wants us to open our hearts to see the blue in the sky and for us to see that we must have a desire to see it.
And So, I would have to say that Jesus was the best preacher ever, in part because he made it relevant to what was happening in the lives of those hearing his message. But the challenge is not only to make it relevant but for it to result in a more meaningful relationship with God for not just the speaker but the hearer as well. The thing is that we need to have a mindset of desiring God. If we do not, we can hear 1000 sermons, read 1000 devotionals, and get nothing out of them. Jesus in the parable of the Sower is focusing on what happens to the preached word when it is heard by the listeners and Jesus makes it clear that not all will learn from the message. So, if you are not reading these words, I am pretty sure you are getting nothing out of them. But even if you are reading, if you do not have an open mind to the message, then nothing will spring forth from the message to produce fruit. We need to listen with an attentive spirit in order to really hear. There is no use of listening or reading a devotional unless you are going to respond to it in some way. Not to me necessarily but to God in what obedience is required for you to grow. We each need to ask ourselves what comes next. What does God want me to do? Understanding is a gift of the Holy Spirit. But you cannot claim it and lock it away for safe keeping. If you are not responding is some way guided by the Spirit, you are not listening. Not all, in fact few responded to Jesus, so my expectations are not very high. Regardless I will keep sowing seeds in the hopes that for some they will bring forth a harvest of a more meaningful relationship with God.
Pray we ask God to help us to see and to hear. Pray we engage a creative energy in us that can nudge us with a power that leads people to recognize the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer in the parables of our lives. Pray we are listening. Pray we are committed. Pray we submit to the teacher of life. Pray we see in the parables of life lessons that serve to reveal truth that God wants us to act on, but also realize that sadly this truth will be hidden from others. Pray we realize that we can trust God that somehow our lives can fulfill what God had planned for them to be if we keep following Jesus. Pray we learn something every time we read scripture. Pray we think about what the scripture is asking us to do and what we need to change. Pray we listen with an obedient heart.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 