Good Morning Friends,
Today we look at a passage from Ezra about the role of earthly kingdoms and kindred in the rebuilding of the Temple after the Babylonian captivity and passages from Luke and Matthew about the requirements of a heavenly Kingdom on our kindred as well. And what initially grabs my attention is how forgiving God appears to be when we consider how we live our lives and how gracious God is in limiting the exile to only 70 years. But then I consider that the old men who had seen both the old and newer Temples wept in sorrow for the glory of the Temple had been lost in its rebuilding. Yes, the people were called to action to care for one another but also to set the right priorities in a Kingdom that will not disappoint. There is a carrot and a stick in the storyline related to inaction. And it is here today we face the reality that the real challenge is not in understanding the simple beauty of the Christian faith and the Gospel’s call of radical action. The real challenge is in exercising our potential to fully appreciate the overwhelming love of God and what we are going to do about it as part of Holy History regardless of the suffering we might face. So, Are You Willing To Take The Next Step Of Putting Christianity Into Practice?
Scripture: Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.
Psalm 119:35 (NRSV)
Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.’ But he said to them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.
Luke 8:19-21 (NRSV)
‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’
Matthew 25:31-46 (NRSV)
let the work on this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God: the cost is to be paid to these people, in full and without delay, from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province Beyond the River. May the God who has established his name there overthrow any king or people that shall put forth a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.” So the elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the prophesying of the prophet Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished their building by command of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia; and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. The people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. They offered at the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. Then they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses. On the fourteenth day of the first month the returned exiles kept the Passover. For both the priests and the Levites had purified themselves; all of them were clean. So they killed the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves.
Ezra 6:7-8, 12b, 14-20 (NRSV)
Message: Living a Christian life amid a confused world has never been easy. We get caught up in it being about building and rebuilding in a fantasy of eternal prosperity and miss the mark. The hope is for us to be whole people even though the world is broken. The problem is that often the harder we try the worse it gets. The answer in scripture to this dilemma is to accept Jesus and a simpler life of doing in response to love and with love. I know, to many, this is difficult to grasp and respond to. Christians are exhorted to sit and wait, to put their minds in neutral and wait for God to do something and certainly when it comes to most things God is in charge. Christians, in their earnestness to set this teaching forth, have often given that impression, that it is simply to let go and let God, and God will do everything, and you do not have to do anything. Of course, it is true that we must face the clear statement of Scripture that, “we, in ourselves, can do nothing.” We do not add to God’s working, but that does not mean that we do not have a part in it. We still need to follow. Christ’s words had a fresh attraction to the people who first heard them. These people were also attracted to the authority with which he spoke to them – and this was why people followed him in such large numbers then and still today for those who listen and hear. You see Christ’s words have “the power of salvation” in them. Even so, there were those who followed him for the sake of convenience only, without too much purity of heart, or perhaps with the desire to be a little better but not radically changed. Even today many are happy with the benefits of Christianity but forget who it is that restores this health. There are two conditions here. The first is to listen to the word of God and the second is to put it into practice. The problem is that Jesus is way too big for our small hearts.
And So, it is not just about what you hear but how you hear that makes the biggest difference.
The Christian life is all about believing and obeying God’s law of love. The passage about family in today’s Gospel reading from Luke is a great example of this for it is not a repudiation by Jesus of his kindred and even his mother. But it does bear witness to the reality that one has to be willing to listen and prod the text with questions that provoke a conviction of a required action. Here we are to see the depth, and the divine quality of the community of believers in Christ as being stronger than any earthly bond of blood. If we do not hear the scripture in this way, there are consequences of inaction. You see we learn by doing and if we do not act then we may hear lots of sermons and devotionals and understand them in our minds but never really understand them in our hearts. Friends, we are to know that the Bible was written for each of us and has in it a message we are to act upon. That the first Christians were often rejected by their own families should guide our reading of this difficult passage from Luke and its priorities. This is not about hatred but of a love that goes beyond the love of our families. We like Jesus need to be passionately committed to the cause. As a dear friend of mine points out to me on a regular basis. God loves you, so what are you going to do about it?
Pray we listen with our heart for the Word of God and seek its meaning for us. Pray we open our hearts to the Word. Pray we want to fully understand. Pray we ask questions that are life changing. Pray we realize that God is speaking to all of us to help us understand we are to practice what Jesus preached. Pray we listen with our ears and hear with our hearts.
Pray we discern what is right. Pray we learn with God’s guidance. Pray we act accordingly – always counting on Jesus’ help knowing of His mercy and patience. Pray the Lord plants His Word in our hearts. Pray we listen to the Spirit in God’s word and practice it with love.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 