Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 9; Jeremiah 32:1-15; Matthew 13:10-17; 1 Corinthians 13:8-13; Psalm 56
Over the last 15 months, the faith community I serve was engaged in the process of writing a Vision, Mission & Values Statement to guide the future of our faith community. This was a VERY organic process that produced some unexpected outcomes. One of these unexpected outcomes helped us arrive at an understanding that a part of our community’s call is to act as a facilitator for healing in the lives of our friends and members. Now many of you may think this aspect of our call is a no-brainer – that ALL faith communities by their very nature should act as facilitators for healing. While I would agree that in theory all faith communities SHOULD embrace this role, not all do. And why don’t they? Well, a part of the answer for me lies in today’s reading from Matthew’s Gospel. As Jesus speaks to the disciples, he makes a point of quoting the prophet Isaiah when he says of some people: “They screw their eyes shut, so they won’t have to look, so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them” (Matthew 10:15 – The Message). That passage suggests that there are those living with pain that chose not to be healed. And why is that? I guess the old saying about preferring the pain we know to the uncertainty of change would explain a huge part of that. And sadly many churches ignore the festering pain of their members and look the other way simply because they don’t want to rock the boat. Today, I invite you to take some time and examine your life. Is there lingering pain that you have carried with you for some time now? If so, are you eyes open to the healing that is available right in front of you; or have you become so accustomed to it that your eyes have been screwed shut? May God help each of us to open our eyes so that we see – perhaps in some cases for the very first time – the healing that lies before us. Til next time…
Over the last 15 months, the faith community I serve was engaged in the process of writing a Vision, Mission & Values Statement to guide the future of our faith community. This was a VERY organic process that produced some unexpected outcomes. One of these unexpected outcomes helped us arrive at an understanding that a part of our community’s call is to act as a facilitator for healing in the lives of our friends and members. Now many of you may think this aspect of our call is a no-brainer – that ALL faith communities by their very nature should act as facilitators for healing. While I would agree that in theory all faith communities SHOULD embrace this role, not all do. And why don’t they? Well, a part of the answer for me lies in today’s reading from Matthew’s Gospel. As Jesus speaks to the disciples, he makes a point of quoting the prophet Isaiah when he says of some people: “They screw their eyes shut, so they won’t have to look, so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them” (Matthew 10:15 – The Message). That passage suggests that there are those living with pain that chose not to be healed. And why is that? I guess the old saying about preferring the pain we know to the uncertainty of change would explain a huge part of that. And sadly many churches ignore the festering pain of their members and look the other way simply because they don’t want to rock the boat. Today, I invite you to take some time and examine your life. Is there lingering pain that you have carried with you for some time now? If so, are you eyes open to the healing that is available right in front of you; or have you become so accustomed to it that your eyes have been screwed shut? May God help each of us to open our eyes so that we see – perhaps in some cases for the very first time – the healing that lies before us. Til next time…
No comments:
Post a Comment