Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 130 & 131; Zechariah 4:1-14; Luke 23:13-25; Romans 11:13-21
Let’s face it. There are some pieces of scripture that commentaries and studies don’t fully open up for you. The only thing that can do that is life experience. Today’s passage from Luke is one of those pieces – at least for me. This passage is the account of Pilate’s appearance before the people with Jesus when Pilate makes it clear that after examining Jesus he found nothing wrong with him. The underlying message Pilate conveys is that he wants to do the right thing by releasing Jesus, but the people won’t let him. Consequently, he is presented as a victim of his circumstances. The older I get the more I realize how easy it is for the rest of us to fall into situations in our lives where we feel like Pilate – circumstances where we profess that we want to do the right thing but say we are trapped. Folks at work, for instance, who don’t want to change numbers on the end of the year report but do so because their boss insisted. Folks who vote for an extremist candidate who blames a segment of society for all of societies ills and then justify their vote by saying the extremist candidate was better than his or her opponent. Folks who shop at a retailer that fails to provide livable wages and benefits for their employees and then excuse their purchases by explaining the retailer had the best price in town. Time after time we - like Pilate - have the opportunity to take control over our own lives and do the right thing; time after time we abdicate that control to others and simply go with the flow. Today, I encourage you to take an inventory of your life and see if there are places where you have done that. If you find such a place, spend some time in God’s presence asking for the strength to break that pattern and do the right thing. Til next time…
Let’s face it. There are some pieces of scripture that commentaries and studies don’t fully open up for you. The only thing that can do that is life experience. Today’s passage from Luke is one of those pieces – at least for me. This passage is the account of Pilate’s appearance before the people with Jesus when Pilate makes it clear that after examining Jesus he found nothing wrong with him. The underlying message Pilate conveys is that he wants to do the right thing by releasing Jesus, but the people won’t let him. Consequently, he is presented as a victim of his circumstances. The older I get the more I realize how easy it is for the rest of us to fall into situations in our lives where we feel like Pilate – circumstances where we profess that we want to do the right thing but say we are trapped. Folks at work, for instance, who don’t want to change numbers on the end of the year report but do so because their boss insisted. Folks who vote for an extremist candidate who blames a segment of society for all of societies ills and then justify their vote by saying the extremist candidate was better than his or her opponent. Folks who shop at a retailer that fails to provide livable wages and benefits for their employees and then excuse their purchases by explaining the retailer had the best price in town. Time after time we - like Pilate - have the opportunity to take control over our own lives and do the right thing; time after time we abdicate that control to others and simply go with the flow. Today, I encourage you to take an inventory of your life and see if there are places where you have done that. If you find such a place, spend some time in God’s presence asking for the strength to break that pattern and do the right thing. Til next time…
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