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
Emails to God 