Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 100; Ezekiel 34:17-31; John 7:37-52; 2 Corinthians 5:6-15; Psalm 65
One of my primary points in yesterday’s sermon was how easy it is to get so caught up with things that we totally miss the point of what’s happening right in front of our faces. Within the context of yesterday’s story of Jesus’ healing of the blind man, for instance, the religious folks in the story got so caught up with asking questions like “Why”, “What”, and “Who” that they completely lost sight of the healing before them. Today’s lesson from John contains a similar point. As Jesus was speaking to the multitudes on the last day of the feast, some in the crowd became obsessed with one question of their own: “Where is this man from?” Once they had figured out that the answer to their question was Galilee, they totally shut themselves off from entertaining the possibility that Jesus was the Messiah. It’s easy to stand back and criticize the folks who got so caught up in their own stuff that they totally missed the point of what was happening before them. However, the story got me to thinking: how many times do we do the same thing? How many times do we become so focused on our issues and agendas – our own “who” “what” and “whys” - that we miss the presence and/or work of God in our own midst? My hope is that God’s spirit will strengthen our hearts so that at such times we might stop and summon the courage to be like Nicodemus and at the very least open ourselves to the possibility of listening before we make up our minds. Til next time…
One of my primary points in yesterday’s sermon was how easy it is to get so caught up with things that we totally miss the point of what’s happening right in front of our faces. Within the context of yesterday’s story of Jesus’ healing of the blind man, for instance, the religious folks in the story got so caught up with asking questions like “Why”, “What”, and “Who” that they completely lost sight of the healing before them. Today’s lesson from John contains a similar point. As Jesus was speaking to the multitudes on the last day of the feast, some in the crowd became obsessed with one question of their own: “Where is this man from?” Once they had figured out that the answer to their question was Galilee, they totally shut themselves off from entertaining the possibility that Jesus was the Messiah. It’s easy to stand back and criticize the folks who got so caught up in their own stuff that they totally missed the point of what was happening before them. However, the story got me to thinking: how many times do we do the same thing? How many times do we become so focused on our issues and agendas – our own “who” “what” and “whys” - that we miss the presence and/or work of God in our own midst? My hope is that God’s spirit will strengthen our hearts so that at such times we might stop and summon the courage to be like Nicodemus and at the very least open ourselves to the possibility of listening before we make up our minds. Til next time…
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