Today’s Readings: Psalm 106; Exodus 32:1-14; Matthew 22:1-14; Philippians 4:1-9
As a pastor, I spend a lot of time dealing with folks who have been damaged by one thing: clichés that people have used with them at the time of a tragedy. They were at a funeral of a loved one who died unexpectedly, for instance, when someone tries to comfort them by saying, “Well, I guess God needed them with him more than we needed him.” Even worse, when the loved one left behind expresses their grief by asking the most natural question of all – “Why?!” - the other person nervously responds by saying, “Well, we shouldn’t question God.” While those questions might make the person saying them feel better by deflecting the raw emotions, they often do tremendous damage to the person on the receiving end. They often fuel people’s frustration, sadness and rage. Some people think today’s passage from Philippians is simply about clichés – especially the part in verse 8 where Paul tells us to keep our minds on positive things. I don’t view the text that way at all. For Paul isn’t telling us to deal with the difficulties of life by taking the equivalent of a spiritual prozac and humming Bobby McFerrin’s song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”. Instead, Paul is simply inviting us to keep our eyes on the bigger picture. The values he points us toward in no way are intended to ignore or negate the challenges we face – instead, they are meant to put those challenges into perspective. So where does your focus lie? Have you become so overwhelmed by the challenges that you can only see the hurt and pain; or have you been able to lift your eyes and see some of those things that Paul pointed us toward – things that can help us emotionally and spiritually rise above those challenges? Til next time…
As a pastor, I spend a lot of time dealing with folks who have been damaged by one thing: clichés that people have used with them at the time of a tragedy. They were at a funeral of a loved one who died unexpectedly, for instance, when someone tries to comfort them by saying, “Well, I guess God needed them with him more than we needed him.” Even worse, when the loved one left behind expresses their grief by asking the most natural question of all – “Why?!” - the other person nervously responds by saying, “Well, we shouldn’t question God.” While those questions might make the person saying them feel better by deflecting the raw emotions, they often do tremendous damage to the person on the receiving end. They often fuel people’s frustration, sadness and rage. Some people think today’s passage from Philippians is simply about clichés – especially the part in verse 8 where Paul tells us to keep our minds on positive things. I don’t view the text that way at all. For Paul isn’t telling us to deal with the difficulties of life by taking the equivalent of a spiritual prozac and humming Bobby McFerrin’s song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”. Instead, Paul is simply inviting us to keep our eyes on the bigger picture. The values he points us toward in no way are intended to ignore or negate the challenges we face – instead, they are meant to put those challenges into perspective. So where does your focus lie? Have you become so overwhelmed by the challenges that you can only see the hurt and pain; or have you been able to lift your eyes and see some of those things that Paul pointed us toward – things that can help us emotionally and spiritually rise above those challenges? Til next time…
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