Help support the vision of Woodland Hills Community Church!

Help support the vision of Woodland Hills Community Church!
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Saturday, January 19

Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 116; Isaiah 43:1-13; Matthew 11:25-30; Ephesians 3:14-21; Psalm 108

If you’ve read several of my daily entries, you’ve probably figured out by now that I have a special place in my heart for Eugene Peterson’s version of the Bible known as The Message. It has a special place for me because Peterson does a beautiful job balancing what are often seen as two competing perspectives on scripture: the academic approach and the pastoral approach. Peterson’s paraphrasing of today’s passage from Matthew is a great example of this. Most of us are familiar with the NRSV translation of Matthew 11:29 that reads: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Peterson takes that verse and transforms it as follows: “Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.” The portion of that passage that specifically leapt out at me was Jesus' admonition to “learn the unforced rhythms of grace”. What a powerful phrase! All too often Christians have believed that living out our faith calls us to pressure or compel others to arrive at our conclusions. Other Christians treat our faith as if can be defined entirely by events (i.e. a worship service) or activities (i.e. mission work). Peterson’s expression of the text called me to remember that the essence of our faith isn’t compromised of these things. In other words, our faith has qualities that don’t coerce, but attract – qualities like mercy and love. Nor can our faith be defined simply by what we do – rather, it is defined by how we do IT (whatever the particular “it” in our life happens to be). In other words, the fullnes of the faith Jesus invites us into can’t be fully captured in dogma or programs. Today, I would encourage you to sit with the admonition to “learn the unforced rhythms of grace.” As you close your eyes and open your heart up to those soothing rhythms, see where they take you. Til next time…

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