Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 69; Isaiah 40:12-23; John 2:13-22; Hebrews 2:1-10; Psalm 19
The spirit of the story in today’s reading from John really connected with a portion of Psalm 69 for me. In verse 7 of Psalm 69, The Message reads: “Because of you I look like an idiot; I walk around ashamed to show my face.” This speaks of a passion that drives a person to go to remarkable lengths – some might say idiotic lengths - in pursuit of an intimate connection with God. Then in the passage from John we were told about the lengths Jesus went to in order to preserve the integrity of his (and his community’s) connection with God. We are told how he chased the money-changers out of the Temple. All of this got me to thinking, “When was the last time my passion for God got me so worked up I was considered an “idiot” by others? When was the last time I found myself upsetting the tables (or status quo) around me in response to my relationship with God? One of the gifts of today’s passages is that they remind us our faith ought not to be simply a pacifier that is used to maintain the status quo; rather, our faith ought to be something that causes us to stand out from others at times and leads us always to question the status quo. I hope you’ll join with me in slipping on a dunce cap today as together we become idiots – at least by the world’s standards – for God! Til next time…
The spirit of the story in today’s reading from John really connected with a portion of Psalm 69 for me. In verse 7 of Psalm 69, The Message reads: “Because of you I look like an idiot; I walk around ashamed to show my face.” This speaks of a passion that drives a person to go to remarkable lengths – some might say idiotic lengths - in pursuit of an intimate connection with God. Then in the passage from John we were told about the lengths Jesus went to in order to preserve the integrity of his (and his community’s) connection with God. We are told how he chased the money-changers out of the Temple. All of this got me to thinking, “When was the last time my passion for God got me so worked up I was considered an “idiot” by others? When was the last time I found myself upsetting the tables (or status quo) around me in response to my relationship with God? One of the gifts of today’s passages is that they remind us our faith ought not to be simply a pacifier that is used to maintain the status quo; rather, our faith ought to be something that causes us to stand out from others at times and leads us always to question the status quo. I hope you’ll join with me in slipping on a dunce cap today as together we become idiots – at least by the world’s standards – for God! Til next time…
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