RSS

Mark 9:30-37

28 Sep

Leaving that region, they traveled through Galilee. Jesus didn’t want anyone to know he was there, for he wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead.” They didn’t understand what he was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant. After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?” But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.” Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”
Mark 9:30-37

Dear God, Catholic or not Catholic, Christian’s could do a lot worse than to listen to Fr. Mike Schmitz Sunday Homilies. I listened to the one from last Sunday this morning and it was quite good. What stuck with me is the difference between humble ambition and selfish ambition. He said selfish ambition requires sold preservation and self defense along the way while I achieve my goals. Then he looked to C.S. Lewis in his book The Screwtape Letters to describe humility. Apparently Lewis described it as the person responsible for building the greatest chapel in the world walking in and being just as pleased with it as of someone else had built it. Humble ambition is about your call on me and my life. Selfish ambition is about my call on my life.

It made me think about the facility expansion and corresponding capital campaign we are going to do at work. If I approach donors with selfish ambition then it will be an icky process. However, if I approach them with humble ambition then I will be giving them a vision of what I believe your call to be and inviting them to participate.

Father, I want my life to be one of humble ambition. That is to say, I would love to not care about any admiration I receive. I confess to you that I do, indeed, care. I do, indeed, like glory. But I confess that right now and offer you my life, my heart, and my ego. My utmost for your highest!

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 28, 2024 in Mark

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Praying for the unprayed for

27 Sep

Father, you convicted my wife and me about something this morning. We were talking about someone we love who can sometimes frustrate us, and we realized that while we sometimes throw them into our prayers when we pray for different groups of people together, we haven’t actually intentionally prayed for this person much at all, if at all. And this person has some of the most hurt from childhood of anyone I personally know. I can see why they would have a lot of issues. And that knowledge helps me be more tolerant of them, but do I actually intentionally pray to you on their behalf? No.

So, I’m here this morning to pray for this one person. You know who they are. They need your love. They need your healing. They need you. They need to know what it is to lay down their life, take up your cross and follow you. They need to know that you are what life is about, you are there for them, and you are waiting to surround them with love and shower them with all of the acceptance they never received. Heal their wounds. Fill in the gaps of their heart. Cover them with a sense of your presence. Help them to seek you and know you. Draw them in so they can begin to have your Spirit and the fruits of your Spirit grow out of them. Show me the role you have for me to play in their life. Raise up people in their life who can be your hands and feet to them. Your words and counsel. Your comfort.

Father, there are so many I know who need this exact prayer. I have two or three others’ names going in my head right now. Be that God to them. Love them. Show me how to love them on your behalf. Let your kingdom come and your will be done on earth, through us, as it is in heaven.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 27, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

Luke 9:1-10

26 Sep

9 One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. 2 Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 “Take nothing for your journey,” he instructed them. “Don’t take a walking stick, a traveler’s bag, food, money, or even a change of clothes. 4 Wherever you go, stay in the same house until you leave town. 5 And if a town refuses to welcome you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”

6 So they began their circuit of the villages, preaching the Good News and healing the sick.

7 When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, heard about everything Jesus was doing, he was puzzled. Some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. 8 Others thought Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets risen from the dead.

9 “I beheaded John,” Herod said, “so who is this man about whom I hear such stories?” And he kept trying to see him.

10 When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then he slipped quietly away with them toward the town of Bethsaida.

Dear God, I want to focus on verses 7-9 this morning, but I wanted them in their context. Luke tells us this story of the disciples going out and doing great things, but he also gives us a little bit of insight into what’s happening with Herod. Luke told us about Joanna, the wife of Herod’s business manager Chuza being one of Jesus’s supporters. Was that his source. It’s certainly plausible that she was. I’m sure Herod was learning things about Jesus from Chuza, and Jesus and the disciples were learning things about Herod from Joanna.

I would love to be able to get inside of Herod’s head and see what he is thinking. I think there was actually something about John the Baptist that touched him. He didn’t want to kill him. And now there was this Jesus guy. I don’t think he saw Jesus as a revolutionary threat, which is ironic because that is what the Jewish people wanted him to be. Yeah. I don’t know. I could be completely wrong here, but I almost get the sense that this generation of Herod was a little Jesus-curious. Would Jesus be someone who could bring him a peace he was striving for but couldn’t attain?

I wonder what kept Herod from actually seeing Jesus at this point. Surely he could have just summoned him through Joanna and he would have come. Did he have too much pride to let others know he had this curiosity? Was he afraid Herodias would have Jesus arrested? Was he afraid Jesus would confront him like John did?

It’s important to note how Luke eventually represented Herod’s and Jesus’s interaction when they finally did meet during the Passion:

8 Herod was delighted at the opportunity to see Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been hoping for a long time to see him perform a miracle. 9 He asked Jesus question after question, but Jesus refused to answer. 10 Meanwhile, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law stood there shouting their accusations. 11 Then Herod and his soldiers began mocking and ridiculing Jesus. Finally, they put a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.

Luke 23:8-11

He was excited to meet Jesus, but then when Jesus let him down and didn’t answer any of his questions, he mocked him and condemned him to what he thought was death.

Father, Herod was just a man. He was sinful. He had needs. He had an ego. He was everything I am. And I have a choice to make. Will I be prideful, or will I die to myself, take up my cross, and follow you? Herod had more to lose that I do, so the choice should be easier for me. And I do. I come before you to lay down my life, take up my cross and follow you. Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down. Here I am to say that you are my God.

I pray to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 26, 2024 in Luke

 

Tags: , ,

1 John 1:5-2:6

25 Sep

5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

2 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

1 John 1:5-2:6

Dear God, yet again, here is another example of the accidental separating of a single message by the insertion of chapter breaks. The verse of the day from Bible Gateway was 1 John 2:1. Great. But when I read it, I realized it was a continuation of a thought, not the beginning of one. So, I went back and picked up where the thought started. We have to be so careful when we read modern presentations of scripture that we don’t misunderstand something simply because we didn’t read the whole thing. It’s one thing to misunderstand because of a lack of cultural context or real knowledge of the Bible. I do that all of the time, I am sure. But to miss it simply because of an unfortunate chapter break or subheading translators inserted to make it easier for us to find things is…well, it’s unfortunate, to say the least.

With that said, what does the apostle John have for me these 2,000-ish years after he wrote it? What do you, Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, have for me this morning? As I read through this passage, what I see is attitude combined with hope. It’s my attitude combined with the hope you offer through Jesus as my savior and my advocate that give me life. John isn’t saying I have to be perfect to be in fellowship with you, but I do need to have an attitude of wanting to simply do the right-est things that you command I do. While I read this passage this morning, it reminded me of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. Then I thought about how John sat and listened to that sermon, maybe multiple times. And while some of it probably sank in, not all of it did at once. I think some of it didn’t really hit him until after Jesus’s resurrection. And now here he is, imploring people, imploring me, that I don’t have to be perfect, but I do have to have an attitude of holiness, humility, repentance, and perseverance. If I can come to the end of myself and submit my life to you, then you can change me into the person you know I can be.

Father, I just prayed with my wife, and I marveled at how you, the God of the universe, are interested in us individually and hear our prayers. You answered a specific prayer for her yesterday. She felt it. She knew you were there are part of it. And there was peace afterward. An atheist would hear that and say it was all in her head, but there is no part of either of us that doubts you heard her and answered our prayers for her. So I know you are here now. You are here, Holy Spirit, advocating for me to the Father. Jesus, you are here, bein my redemption before the Father. And Father, you are here in a mysterious way I don’t totally understand, loving me in your God-ness. Thank you. Help me to see what you need me to see today. Love me and love through me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 25, 2024 in 1 John

 

Hebrews 10:32-36, Jonah 3, Acts 17:22-34

24 Sep

32 Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. 33 Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. 34 You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.

35 So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! 36 Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Hebrews 10:32-36

Dear God, I had a thought cross my mind this morning: How do we bring the world to repentance? How do we bring the world, and our country, back to worshipping you with all our hearts, soul, mind and strength, and then loving our neighbors as ourselves? I see two options:

Jonah and Nineveh: When Jonah finally goes to Nineveh in chapter Jonah 3, he walks through the city and preaches that you will destroy the city in 40 days. So, in a way, there is still a threat of destruction here. They are just able to heed the warnings. They are able to come quickly to the end of themselves. It’s quite admirable how quickly the king and the people get there.

Suffering: Right now, I think there are some in the church who are admirably trying to be Jonah to our current society. They are trying to warn of your disappointment, displeasure, and a coming destruction. Some of them are more effective at it than others. Jesus offers a new Gospel than Jonah had to offer Nineveh, so it is not apples to apples. It is important to note that.

That leads me to an interesting question: What would Jonah’s message to Nineveh have been in a time that is after Jesus’s life, death and resurrection? Maybe it’s kind of like Paul preaching to the Greeks in Acts about the Unknown God (Acts 17:22-34). Instead of preaching fear and destruction, Paul preached reconciliation and relationship with you. Fruit of your Spirit growing within us. A changed life.

Father, I really don’t know that there is any turning of our collective hearts towards you at this point without some sort of suffering. And if that is what you have for us, I am okay with that. I’m not afraid of what happens if either Harris or Trump are elected president in November. I am not worried about preserving American Christian power and influence in the world. I am just worried about how you would have me influence the people you have put in my lives today. I am worried about loving you with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. I am worried about loving my neighbor as myself. I am worried about teaching people reconciliation to you. I am worried about teaching them about the God they don’t know. I’ve known you for 35 years, and I still have only scratched the surface of who you are. In fact, I don’t even think I’ve scratched the surface. But in this moment, right now, I just want to make my life a living sacrifice to you. All that I am for all that you are. My utmost for your highest.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
1 Comment

Posted by on September 24, 2024 in Acts, Hebrews, Jonah

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Mark 10:46-52

23 Sep

46 Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. 47 When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

48 “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him.

But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

49 When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.”

So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!” 50 Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.

51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.

“My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”

52 And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.

Mark 10:46-52

Dear God, my wife and I were talking yesterday about the limitations we put on our relationships with you. Specifically, we both talked about specific weaknesses in our individual lives that need healing, but they have become so much a part of us and who we are we aren’t really interested in being healed.

For me, I started to realize this a few weeks ago when I was talking to someone about the Ozempic fad of people taking it as an appetite suppressant for weight loss. While they were talking to me, I thought to myself that I’m not sure I would want to lose my appetite because I enjoy eating and how it is incorporated into my life. Now, to be clear, my eating habits are not great. I am 6’4″ and 245, so I am just on the borderline between overweight and obese. I am fit from a cardiovascular standpoint because I exercise regularly, but as much as I exercise I should be a thinner man. I’ve told people that the combination of my weight and how much I exercise is a testament to how much I eat.

So as I sat there yesterday and talked with my wife, I started to wonder if this is something I need to turn over to you. Do I need to seek your healing? That’s when I had the thought, “I don’t think I want to be healed.” That’s why I went and found this passage this morning about Bartimaeus. I remember Jesus asking Bartimaeus what he wanted from him. It made me think that if you were to ask me this morning, “What do you want from me?” what would be my answer in regards to my eating habits? My addition to eating. Would I say, “I want to be free from eating obsessively,” or would I say, “Nothing. I’m good.”

Father, I am here praying about this before you right now because I think I need to screw up the courage within me to say, “Lord, I want to be healed from my gluttony when it comes to food.” I prayed a few weeks ago about Fr. Mike Schmitz’s called “The Floor.” In it, I listed several things that were the least I could do to be in healthy relationship with you. I think eating healthily and being careful about what I put into my body needs to be added to that list. Okay, I don’t “think.” I know. I need to do this. Even now, as I type this, I am hesitant to even type the words, “Lord, I want to be healed,” but I do. Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, my Triune God, I want to be healed. I want to be healed from my food addiction. I have faith in you to do it, Lord. I believe in you. Lord, heal me.

I pray this in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 23, 2024 in Mark

 

Tags: , , ,

Mark 9:30-35

22 Sep

Leaving that region, they traveled through Galilee. Jesus didn’t want anyone to know he was there, for he wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead.” They didn’t understand what he was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.

After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?” But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”

Mark 9:30-35

Dear God, even now, it is so hard for us to get what Jesus is saying. And we have the texts. We have the history. We have hindsight. It is so easy to look at this and question why the disciples heard Jesus talking about his betrayal, death, and resurrection, and then wonder how they could possibly, one road trip later, be arguing over who would be the greatest in the kingdom. Even if they didn’t understand what he was telling them about the crucifixion, resurrection, and ultimate plan of the Gospel in that moment, how did they get to the point where they were positioning themselves for glory?

But don’t we do it too? Don’t I do it too? I want to be seen as smarter than others. I want to be seen as better. I was just with my parents for a couple of days. I have older siblings. I want to show my parents I’m the better child. There are people in our community who know me. I want to impress them and make them respect me. How can I see Jesus’s example and hear his teachings and ever adopt any of those positions?

Father, I am sorry. I don’t think I was all that you wanted me to be over the last 48 hours. I wasn’t terrible or anything, but I was closer to what Jesus saw in his disciples that I was like the little child he put before them just after this to make his point. I have a lot of work to do this week. I will interact with a lot of people on behalf of the nonprofit where I work. Make my contacts with them not about me but about you. About bringing glory to you. About helping them to draw closer to you. About my utmost for your highest.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 22, 2024 in Mark

 

Life Philosophy

21 Sep

Dear God, I woke up this morning and I thought, I need to put something Godly in me before I get going. So I decided to listen to the most recent homily from Fr. Mike Schmitz from 9/16/24. Of course, I made a huge mistake and happened upon a couple of news stories designed to make me fearful and, yes, I read them. By as I was reading them, I was able to acknowledge them for what they were and deny the idols that the articles were telling me would make everything better if I would just believe in them and do what they say. So maybe I’m getting a little better after all.

Getting back to Fr. Mike, he asked a question of all of us. He started by telling a story about a man he met who collects “life philosophies” from people he knows and meets, and he asked Fr. Mike what his life philosophy was. He didn’t have a great answer in the moment, but it’s a question I decided to try to answer for myself. If someone were to ask me for my life philosophy, what would I answer? More important, if it is a noble philosophy, do I live up to it?

The first thing that came to mind is my “life verse.” I’ve talked to you about it before. I discovered it when I was 17, and I knew then that it was special. Acts 20:24: However, I consider my life worth nothing to me. If only I may finish the race and complete the talk the Lord Jesus has given me. The task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. I think that’s the key. It’s what Job ultimately learned through his trials. It’s what Paul came to pretty quickly after his conversion. The apostles who witnessed Jesus’s death almost all met their own deaths “testifying to [Jesus’s resurrection and] the gospel of God’s grace.” Honestly, I think it is the perfect life philosophy.

Ah, but do I live up to it? Do I protect myself from ridicule or rejection for your gospel? Do I risk my financial security for it? Am I doing it at all? If I am doing it at all, am I doing it enough? The answer, of course, is no. I’m doing it somewhat, but I am sure I could do more. I am sure I could be more and risk more for your kingdom. For your gospel. That doesn’t mean I need to be reckless, but I do need to intentional in sharing your gospel.

Father, I want to pray right now for the people around the world who do offer their lives for your gospel. Whether it is comfort and stability, or it is all of the way to death, there are people right now who are giving everything, literally everything, out of worship to you. Be with them. Strengthen them. Comfort them. If you are willing, free them. And don’t let the pain they are experiencing be wasted. Make it count. And make my life count. Don’t let the portions of my life that are painful be wasted either. Use it to form me and form others. Mold me into the man you want me to be. A man who would be able to ask himself if he is holding back sharing the gospel out of self preservation and answer it with a resounding, “No!” I love you, Father. I love you Jesus. I love you Holy Spirt. My Triune God, three in one.

I pray this in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 21, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

Tags: ,

Luke 8:1-3

20 Sep

8 Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, 2 along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; 3 Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.

Luke 8:1-3

Dear God, I don’t know that I’ve ever spent much time thinking about these women. But it is interesting that Luke takes the time to tell us about these women. The one who really caught my eye this morning is “Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager.” What an interesting person to have in your entourage. To have her be one of your patrons. I wonder what experience brought her to this role in Jesus’s earthly mission. Had she been cured of diseases or had evil spirits cast out of her or someone she knew? And how did Chuza’s proximity to Jesus through her, including giving some of his money to Jesus, impact Herod? Did it do something in his heart that directed his actions on the day Pilate sent Jesus to him to adjudicate his potential crucifixion? It most likely gave Herod some additional anecdotal information about this amazing Jewish man. Did it make Herod more scared and insecure?

Scared and insecure. I’m sorry I’m chasing rabbits now, but those two words I just used brought me back to a couple of things I read this morning. I read a document called Evangelical Confession 2024, which was largely related to how Christians should relate to politics. Then I read a piece offering caution and warnings about that Evangelical Confession. I’m not going to pretend to have thought through either of these things completely or thoroughly. But I will say that I see fear and insecurity everywhere I look right now. There is fear where our politics are headed, from liberals to conservatives to everyone in between. There is fear where the church is headed. There is fear where our societal norms are headed. When it comes down to it, however, it seems to me that there is fear that things are going in a direction that individuals don’t like.

I don’t know why you do what you do. Why did Nazi Germany rise up and commit so many atrocities? Why did World War I before that happen? Those are large scale questions. Closer to home, why does this person or that person die tragically? So why did Donald Trump become president in 2016? Your choice? Joe Biden in 2020? Your choice? We all assume that you are doing things so they work out for the agenda we have, but we can be so myopic and not see the big picture. What if we need to sink into a morally defunct liberal pit in order to hit bottom and have true revival? What if your intention is for us to go down further before we can come back to you with true humility, reverence and worship? Or, what if you are calling us to lead that revival right now before it’s too late? What if we miss our window that is slowly closing? Will it close forever?

Father, I’m all over the place this morning, and I don’t know that I’ve come to many conclusions except to say that I will put my trust in you. I will not be afraid. I will believe that you will put the right people in my life who will, on your behalf, teach me, comfort me, and love me. They might not be the people I expect. They might not be the people I miss and long for. But I believe you will be there with me regardless of how things turn out. In the case of Joanna above, she didn’t know that Jesus, the man she was supporting, would need to die, to sink down and literally go to the bottom first, before he would be victorious. I’m sure the crucifixion was disappointing, devastating, and disillusioning to her. Help me to accept the realities around me with my faith in you keeping me from being disappointed, devastated, or disillusioned.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 20, 2024 in Luke

 

Tags: , ,

Luke 7:48,50

19 Sep

48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Luke 7:48,50

Dear God, I want to follow up on yesterday’s prayer and stay focused on this woman for a bit. Let’s assume she wasn’t paying attention to what Jesus was saying to Simon the Pharisee. She was just focused on her sorrow and shame as she anointed, washed, cried over, and kissed Jesus’s feet. If that’s true, in the midst of her shame, what she heard was, “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

So how does that land for her in that moment? How does she hear that?

  • Forgiven: Has she ever felt forgiven by you before? Could all of the sacrifices at the Temple make up for what she has done? I’m going to go back to Jenny from Forrest Gump. Forrest is not Jesus, but in the scene where he asks her to marry him he has forgiven anything she might have ever done. He holds nothing–absolutely nothing–against her. But what’s her response? “You don’t want to marry me.” She’s implying, “You don’t know everything you are forgiving or will have to forgive in the future if you marry me. I will be bad for you.” I wonder if this woman carried that kind of shame around. “God, you don’t want to forgive me. There’s too much that I have done, and there’s still a lot more for me to do.” But then she hears about Jesus. She believes he’s from you. Interestingly, at least in that moment, she was not looking for a king to conquer and to kill the Romans for here. I would guess that she just needs release from her shame and goes to Jesus for proximity to you. I don’t even know that she expected forgiveness from that interaction. But she got it.
  • Faith: She believed Jesus was who he said he was. I have no idea how she got into Simon’s house. I don’t know if she barged in past the other guests. I don’t know if she was weeping as she walked in. Did she have her head down? Did she crawl? But somehow she had intelligence on where Jesus was in that moment and she believed in who he was enough to endure the scorn of others to get there. In fact, her faith in Jesus being the Messiah was unique in that home. Simon was there to question Jesus, not worship him. I don’t know if he came to faith later, but in that moment, the person with faith was the sinner. But she was also the most desperate and had the least to lose in that room. It is really too bad we need to hit bottom and come to the end of ourselves before we are willing to come to you in faith. It makes me think of Jairus. He was probably a lot like Simon, but then his daughter was dying. He was at the end of himself. All he had left was desperate faith. For this woman, she was the one who was wasted and spiritually dead.
  • Go in peace: I wonder what her life looked like after that. Sure, Jesus had forgiven her, but that didn’t change the people who knew her and knew of her. What was her path to societal redemption like? Did Jesus’s followers now accept her willingly? Did she join the traveling party? I hope she was able to live into the new life that Jesus offered her in that moment. We don’t know that she did. But it makes me think about what our role as the church is in helping people like her. She needed Jesus’s followers to accept his forgiveness of her and apply it to her as well. She needed them to help her rise up. There are plenty of people in our community who need the same thing.

Father, first, forgive me. I’d like to say that I’m not as bad as she was, but is that true. Have I not grieved you and hurt myself and others through my sin? I need your forgiveness. Even in this moment. Please forgive me. Please help me to go in peace. Help me to live into the life you have for me to live. Help me to take that forgiveness and apply it to others. Help me to help others to rise up. Oh, Lord, thank you. I worship you as my God. I am here to serve you. “Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee.”

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 19, 2024 in Luke

 

Tags:

← Older posts
Newer posts →