Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 120; Isaiah 48:12-21; Luke 4:14-30; 1 Corinthians 4:6-13; Psalm 38
Today’s reading from the Gospel According of Luke reminds me of one of the great challenges I have encountered in pastoral conversations with parents who have a strong faith who agonize about their children who don’t share their faith at all. The parents spend a great time torturing themselves with one of two questions: (a) “What did I do wrong?” or (b) “What could I do now to reach them?” Today’s Lukan passage raises issues around the second of these two questions. You see most of us assume that if we have a close relationship with someone or some group that that automatically makes us the best person to reach the other. Jesus’ experience reminds us this isn’t true. For in his teaching, he reminds his audience of Elijah’s experience of dealing with the drought in his time. Instead of putting an end to the drought at home, Elijah had to reach out to another area entirely. Jesus explained this by saying simply, “No prophet is accepted in his hometown” (Luke 4:24 – NIV). As much as we would hope and pray that WE would be the vessel to reach our loved ones, the story reminds me that this isn’t always the case. Sometimes the most effective vessel is another. In spite of our control issues, then, we have to step back and trust this process – trust that God will provide the right person or the right circumstance to touch the life of our loved one. Today I encourage you to spend some time thinking about this process. Who in your life have you been frustrated by your inability to reach? Then, instead of simply asking for God’s help in reaching them yourself, ask God to provide someone who can reach them. See what happens. Til next time…
Today’s reading from the Gospel According of Luke reminds me of one of the great challenges I have encountered in pastoral conversations with parents who have a strong faith who agonize about their children who don’t share their faith at all. The parents spend a great time torturing themselves with one of two questions: (a) “What did I do wrong?” or (b) “What could I do now to reach them?” Today’s Lukan passage raises issues around the second of these two questions. You see most of us assume that if we have a close relationship with someone or some group that that automatically makes us the best person to reach the other. Jesus’ experience reminds us this isn’t true. For in his teaching, he reminds his audience of Elijah’s experience of dealing with the drought in his time. Instead of putting an end to the drought at home, Elijah had to reach out to another area entirely. Jesus explained this by saying simply, “No prophet is accepted in his hometown” (Luke 4:24 – NIV). As much as we would hope and pray that WE would be the vessel to reach our loved ones, the story reminds me that this isn’t always the case. Sometimes the most effective vessel is another. In spite of our control issues, then, we have to step back and trust this process – trust that God will provide the right person or the right circumstance to touch the life of our loved one. Today I encourage you to spend some time thinking about this process. Who in your life have you been frustrated by your inability to reach? Then, instead of simply asking for God’s help in reaching them yourself, ask God to provide someone who can reach them. See what happens. Til next time…
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