Wednesday's Devotion from Epiphany
Luke 4.41 Demons also came out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah. (NRSV)
Why is this stuff so hard? Why is it so hard inviting people into a relationship with Jesus, inviting basically good people. Is it really true that we don’t wait until we get sick to seek to be made better? We should really know better.
When people learned what Jesus was capable of doing for others, they came to him to be made better, to be made whole. Not just basically good people but even basically bad people, too. But, Jesus couldn’t be fooled. He fixed the good people and shut up the bad. The good were fulfilled and the bad were sent away empty handed, empty hearted.
We try to be good, we understand ourselves to be basically good, and we tend to know a good thing when we see it. So, it is no surprise when it comes to Jesus, the goodest of all, we want to keep him all to ourselves. Fortunately, Jesus will have none of this, nothing to do with us if we want to be selfish, even if it means going to a deserted place. I’d like to think it upsets himself so much that he needs a time-out, some quiet time by himself. Probably so he doesn’t tell us what he really thinks of us. At least he doesn’t just tell us to shut up.
Stir us from the quiet, deserted places of our lives so that we, too, might proclaim the message. Amen
Why is this stuff so hard? Why is it so hard inviting people into a relationship with Jesus, inviting basically good people. Is it really true that we don’t wait until we get sick to seek to be made better? We should really know better.
When people learned what Jesus was capable of doing for others, they came to him to be made better, to be made whole. Not just basically good people but even basically bad people, too. But, Jesus couldn’t be fooled. He fixed the good people and shut up the bad. The good were fulfilled and the bad were sent away empty handed, empty hearted.
We try to be good, we understand ourselves to be basically good, and we tend to know a good thing when we see it. So, it is no surprise when it comes to Jesus, the goodest of all, we want to keep him all to ourselves. Fortunately, Jesus will have none of this, nothing to do with us if we want to be selfish, even if it means going to a deserted place. I’d like to think it upsets himself so much that he needs a time-out, some quiet time by himself. Probably so he doesn’t tell us what he really thinks of us. At least he doesn’t just tell us to shut up.
Stir us from the quiet, deserted places of our lives so that we, too, might proclaim the message. Amen
posted by John | 10:23 PM
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